Woodstock Snape
by MajorJune
Summary: AU spec. of what would have happened if 9 y.o. Snape was at Woodstock, covering years 1969-70, somewhat humorously showing Sev's immersion in mainstream culture. First volume of a multi-decade story. Rated T for language/drug use/intense situations
1. Prologue 1 June 69 Feelin Groovy

There was brightness to his step -- almost a skip and a dance -- as he headed home, the little boy with long black hair, too-short jeans, long shabby coat and odd, smock-like shirt.

At least that's what her sister had said; she'd mocked his smock and implied that it was odd. He never had thought it so, when it came to it he had never really given his clothes any thought...that seemed to be a Muggle preoccupation, if the acerbic comments by the sister and sarcastic sniggers of his Muggle schoolmates were any measure.

But _she_ never made fun of his clothes...Lily didn't seem to care what he wore which, to his mind, was just one more proof that she belonged in _his_ world, the wizarding world.

And today, it had been worth getting up early, getting up and getting out before the day's shouting began or, what sometimes seemed worse, the stone-cold silence of bitterness and disappointment that, like a Dementor's kiss, sucked all hope and possibility of happiness.

He hadn't wanted to spoil the morning with those memories, so he got up as the sun was rising, quietly dressed, and silently slipped out of the house before either of them awoke.

It wouldn't have been too bad if his mother awoke, she would have understood why he wanted to leave undetected...but she would have insisted he have some breakfast, some milk and toast at least. But that would have risked is father waking and getting up and trouble starting again...

The boy wasn't that hungry anyways...being with Lily filled him like no ordinary food could.

He hurried the miles to the playground in her neighborhood, even though he knew he'd be hours early. She'd told him that she normally slept until at least 7 on Saturdays, and then her Mum made them all a big breakfast.

But he didn't mind the solitude...he was used to it. And he could slowly sway on one of the swings undisturbed, basking in the warmth of the rising sun and memories of their meetings over the past month, and anticipation for the time they'd spend together that morning...

It was a week-long holiday where she attended school. Her family was leaving that afternoon to visit a relative somewhere, he didn't know or care where, all he cared was that he wouldn't see Lily for one whole week.

So she had promised to meet him at the playground that morning before they left, and that is why he made sure that he was going to be there early and that he was not tainted by any bad stuff from his own home.

A snippet of a silly song kept going through his mind...he didn't know the name, but it had played a lot at one time on those things his Muggle schoolmates owned that they referred to as "transistor radios"...

_Slow down, don't move too fast,  
You've got to make the morning last...  
Dadada la la, lala la...  
Feelin' groovy...  
_  
He couldn't remember all of the words -- it hadn't been important to him to pay that close attention at the time, but today the phrase "You've got to make the morning last" reflected his mood, and although he wasn't sure what "groovy" meant, in the context of the song he was sure he was feeling it.

And suddenly, as he neared the playground, he remembered another bit of the song:

_Hello lamppost,  
Whatcha knowing?  
I've come to watch your flowers growing...  
something-something...  
do-in-in doo doo  
Feelin' groovy...  
_  
And there, growing under the streetlight as he turned the corner into the playground, was an exuberant bouquet of spring flowers proudly exerting themselves above the sand, gravel and weeds.

And he knew that they were there for a reason -- they were waiting for him. They hadn't been there the other day, he was sure of it. He knew that they had bloomed there just that morning, just for him to be able to pick for her...for Lily, who could make flowers open and close at her will.

He gently picked each one -- it would be an insult to them to leave even one behind, since they had gone out of their way to bloom just for him today.

It was going to be a perfect morning, he just knew it, a perfect morning to make up for all of the awkward statements and mistakes he'd made over the past few weeks.

And so it was with almost a swagger that he carried the bouquet into the playground, and made his way to the swings and sat and waited.

He didn't have any way to tell what time it was, but he guessed that it must now be about 7...she'd just be waking up about now. Then there would be breakfast, and then brushing her teeth and washing her face and getting dressed and combing her hair...

She'd probably get to the playground around 8 or so, and then they would have the whole morning together, the whole groovy morning, before she'd have to leave on her trip.

He didn't quite swing on his seat as much as he dangled awkwardly, occasionally twisting around and letting it spin back. He stared at the flowers he'd picked, thinking about how naturally and easily Lily was able to make the petals open and close like an oyster.

He wondered how she was able to do it, and spent the next hour trying to get the bouquet to open and close for him.

Some young boys came riding bikes into the playground, but they only gave him a glance. They rode around for some time before deciding it was boring and leaving for some more interesting location.

Still he concentrated on the flowers...were those some petals moving, or just the trembling of his hand?

The sun grew higher in the sky, and the day grew warmer. Two young mothers pushing prams and with three toddlers in tow came into the playground and eyed the swing set.

They didn't say anything, but he knew they would prefer that he wasn't there, so he got off the swing seat and went over to where some tall bushes were growing which provided some shade.

He took off his coat and spread it on the grass and lay on it, making sure that he was in clear view of the playground entrance. He held the bouquet in front of his face and continued to concentrate on making the flowers open and close...

He lost all track of time. The two young mothers and their brood eventually left, some older kids came and left, using the playground as a short cut to some other destination.

This neighborhood, so unlike his own, was comfortably upper-middleclass. These families had nice houses with nice yards, and most didn't scrimp on toys and playthings which were available just outside their own back doors...so there was relatively little activity at the public playground, even on such a nice day.

And then it happened. He'd decided to concentrate on just one flower instead of the whole bouquet, and eventually he saw its petals open and close -- feebly, to be sure. Not the strong, even movement that Lily was capable of, but it was doing it all the same.

A big grin cracked his usually sullen face, he just had to show her!

He looked around and realized that he had lost all track of time...the sun was now high in the sky, most of the morning had to have gone, it had to be close to lunch time...

His smile faded...wasn't she coming? Bitter disappointment grabbed his heart...he wasn't going to cry, he just wasn't! But despite his resolve, he could feel his eyes getting wet...

But before an actual tear could betray him, he heard footsteps running up the street, and then there she was, pausing at the entrance to catch her breath, slightly disheveled, looking around the playground. She spotted him, and the look of relief on her face was quickly replaced by a broad smile as she ran over to him.

"Oh, Sev! I am _soooo_ sorry for being so late! Mum made an especially big breakfast..here! I brought you some waffles..."

And she reached into her pocket and pulled out two waffles wrapped in wax paper and handed it to him.

"And then Mum insisted we check what we'd packed," she continued, "and then repack and then Petunia, well, was being Petunia...!"

She stopped to catch her breath and peer intently into his face and then asked, "You aren't upset, are you?"

"I thought maybe you'd forgotten..."

"Oh Sev, of course I wouldn't forget! I'd promised I'd be here and finally I just said to Mum and Tuney 'Listen, there's something I really need to do!', and I left and I figured Tuney could finish packing, she was the one that unpacked three times anyways!"

She stopped to yet again catch her breath and he smiled a sort of half-smile. Seeing that she asked, "So you aren't mad at me?"

He peered into her deep green eyes and stated, "Never..."

Then he held out the bouquet and said, "Hey! Look what I can do!", and he made the one flower in the middle slowly open and close. Lily took the bouquet, giggling.

"It's not as good as you can do...", he sighed.

"Oh, Sev!", she interrupted, "I think it's beautiful!"

"I wanted to make them all do it, though!", he protested.

"Like this?", she asked, and as she gazed intently at the bouquet, all the flowers started to open and close, some slowly, some fluttering like butterflies' wings.

"Yeah," he stated wistfully, "that's what I tried to do, but I could only get the one in the middle to move..."

Lily pulled that one flower out, its petals now steadily and strongly opening and closing as if keeping time with the rhythm of his heart...

She broke off part of the stem and leaned over, placing the flower in his hair, the stem resting upon his left ear. The petals continued to open and close.

"Sorry," she said, "but I really have to go...I'll be back next Sunday, we can meet in the afternoon...?"

And with that she leaned over again, kissed his forehead, and taking the bouquet rose up and ran out of the playground.

He sat there, stunned. She was already gone before he even thought to raise his hand to his forehead...yes, there was still a trace of moisture there. Yes, she had really kissed him!

And so he was almost skipping and dancing all the miles back home, the little boy with too-short jeans, long shabby coat, odd, smock-like shirt...and a flower in his long greasy hair that kept the beat of his heart. Or perhaps it was _her_ heart...maybe their two hearts beat as one...

_...let the morning time drop  
All its petals on me.  
Life, I love you,  
All is groovy..._

Yes, whatever "groovy" was, he knew what he was feeling must be it. It was as if her kiss had placed a bit of the warm spring sun into his heart.

The windows were open at his house, and as he entered the front yard his spirit drooped a little as he heard the radio inside tuned to a rugby match.

He'd been hoping that his father would be off at the pub. The best he could now hope for would be that his father would be too engrossed in the game to notice him entering.

He slipped around back and came in through the back door. His mother was in the kitchen doing something at the sink. She didn't say anything, but gave him a cryptic look that suggested that all was not well.

He paused and waited until he heard his father yelling at the radio over something with the game being broadcast, and decided that then would be as good a time as any to slip by him unseen to the stairs.

But he had just made it to the foot of the stairs when he heard shouted at him, "Oy! Where th'hell ya been, asshole?!"

"Around," the boy answered.

The man found this answer highly unsatisfactory.

"Around!? _AROUND!?_ What th'hell j'mean, 'around' asshole!? Why weren'tcher here helpin' yer Mum!?"

The boy was tempted to ask the same question of the man, but knew better not to.

"And what th'hell is that thing in yer hair!? Whatcher think, yer one of those g'damned HIPPIES 'r sumthin'!?"

The boy didn't know what the word "hippies" meant -- but his father spat the word out the same way he did "witches" and "wizards" and "magic", and so the boy thought that yes, maybe he was one, or at least would like to be.

"Yeah, so what if I am?", he retorted, but knew immediately it had been a mistake to do so.

His father jumped out of his chair shouting, "Whatcher say t'me, asshole!?", and the boy just narrowly missed being cuffed behind his ear.

His mother stepped in from the kitchen, and placing herself between the man and the boy said to her son, "Severus, please sweep the back hall...".

And at that moment a crowd's roar arose from the radio, something important had happened in the game that distracted the man, and the boy slipped back into the kitchen as his mother handed her husband a bottle of beer.

The boy grabbed the common kitchen broom that stood by the back door, carefully removing Lily's flower from his hair and putting it into the breast pocket of his coat for safekeeping.

He swept the hall, and for good measure (and because he preferred to be outside of his house) swept the back stoop too. The sky had started to cloud over, and a wind had picked up that blew the dirt he had swept into tiny dust devils.

He could feel the flower on his breast, and it was as if Lily's heart was next to his.

He wondered if the flower would last forever, and all the happiness and joy he'd felt earlier returned.

The wind was refreshing, he held out his arms and twirled in the breeze, feeling Lily's heartflower still beating on his breast. He never remembered ever feeling this happy in his life, and he thought how much he'd like to be with her right at that moment, wherever she was.

He twirled faster so that his own house and neighborhood became a blur and it was easier to picture Lily and her family traveling in their car, and the heartflower kept beating, if anything stronger now...

And then it happened.

The broom in his hand flew straight up in the air, over his house, over the neighbors' houses. For some reason, he had no idea how, he was able to hang on, dangling by one hand beneath the broom.

This, he knew, could not be good.

It was just a common, everyday Muggle broom, after all! It wasn't a magickal flying broom -- at least, it wasn't supposed to be...

When his initial surprise wore off, he managed to pull the broom down enough so that he could swing his leg over it and ride it.

But that was all he could do...it was singularly unresponsive when he tried to steer it.

He gripped the handle with both hands and with all the strength he could muster tried to turn the broom -- but that only succeeded in the broom flipping completely over.

He then tried to will the broom to turn, and eventually got it to veer a few degrees off of the course it had been on, but not enough to turn it around and take him home.

If truth be told, he'd actually be enjoying the experience if the wind hadn't been picking up. A storm was moving in that buffeted him one way and then another. He thought that he might be moving in a generally southerly direction, but couldn't be sure.

He passed over houses and shopping centers, highways and factories. Towns gave way to farms which in turn gave way to cities, before again repeating the whole process.

He couldn't be sure how long he'd been up there, nor how far he had traveled. But the wind still buffeted him, and now a cold drizzle stung his face and the sky kept getting darker.

At first he thought it was due to the thickening clouds, but it kept getting darker and he saw lights turning on below, so he knew that night was approaching and fear slowly replaced the anxious excitement he'd been feeling.

The rain and the wind were making it more difficult to hold onto the broom, and now he started to wonder how he could make the thing land.

The thought itself seemed to be the thing, because the broom instantly plummeted, so steeply and quickly he was afraid it would crash, so he immediately thought "Up!", and the broom rose.

For some reason it responded well to up and down movement, if not to side-by-side steering. As he pondered this fact and how he might utilize it without killing himself, he saw something which turned his heart as cold as the icy rain lashing him.

Immediately below him he saw flat stretches of marshland, and then what looked to be outcroppings of rock bordered by a thin pale line. And then everything below him was dark flat gray interspersed with dots of white for as far as he could see. The stinging rain in his face was now joined with a salty spray...he was now out over the ocean.

This, he definitely knew, was NOT groovy...

* * *

_Slow down, you move too fast  
You've got to make the morning last  
Just kicking down the cobblestones  
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy! _

Hello Lamppost, whatcha knowing?  
I've come to watch your flowers growing.  
Ain't cha got no rhyme for me?  
Doot-in, doo, doo,  
Feelin' groovy.

Got no deeds to do,  
No promises to keep...  
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.  
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.  
Life, I love you!  
All is groovy."

59th STREET BRIDGE SONG  
Simon and Garfunkel


	2. Prologue 2 June69 Can't Find My Way Home

It was growing steadily darker, and the rain and salt spray was making it harder to hold onto the troublesome broom.

He was afraid to try to make it turn around, because every time he'd tried before it just bucked and then flipped over -- he'd barely held on and maintained control, but now he was sure that his numb fingers wouldn't be able to sustain a grip on the slippery handle. The only thing he could do was make it go up or down.

Geography had never been his strong suit in school, and besides he wasn't sure what direction he'd been traveling, nor how fast he'd been going. He guessed that he'd been going in a generally southerly direction, but he had no idea whether he was heading for Ireland, France, the Netherlands, or...

His stomach felt as if he'd eaten rocks for dinner...he didn't know how he knew, but it was with a definite certainty that he knew he was heading out over the open ocean. Even if he managed to maintain control of the broom, he knew that eventually exhaustion would overtake him...the need for sleep would win out and then he'd lose his grip and fall to the ocean below...

His face was wet from the rain and salty from the sea spray, but the sensation of warmth rolling from his eyes down his cheeks betrayed the fact that he was crying in spite of himself.

Dying would be bad enough, but to die out here, alone...no one would know. Not his mother. Not Lily. They would always wonder what had happened to him...

He fought to maintain control, both of the broom and of his emotions. Crying wasn't going to change the facts of the situation he now found himself in.

But he couldn't stop his stomach from growling...he realized that other than the two waffles that Lily had given him that morning, he had eaten nothing all day. Now he was hungry, cold, wet, tired...

He fought back a second wave of tears. He had to stay focused if he was to survive...

At first he thought that it was a trick of the light and the rain and the tears in his eyes...but he blinked, not once but many times, and yes! He did see lights on the ocean surface ahead!

He willed himself to stay focused and calm, and then visualized himself on the broom descending at a moderate pace -- and the broom responded in kind.

As he descended and got closer to the source of the lights, he saw that they came from a ship. He couldn't tell how big the ship was, but he knew that this was his only chance.

His mother had told him something at one time about clearing one's mind before doing magic...he'd been too young to fully understand at the time, but now he tried to remember everything she'd said.

As he'd done a short while before, he again willed himself to be calm, to remain focused, to think of nothing except safely landing on the ship below. There was only him, only his broom, only the ship. Nothing else existed.

Just him. Just the broom. Just the ship.

He and his broom needed to land on that ship.

Just him. Just the broom. Just that ship.

Him. The broom. The ship.

Him. The broom. The ship.

Him.

The broom.

The ship.

He felt a pain in his knee as something sharp slammed into it, and then something hit his forehead really hard, but before he could cry out in pain something else punched him in his stomach and he let go of the broom and was tumbling head over heels and there was a terrible racket as something fell over him and he found himself lying on a hard surface covered by his broom, some thick rope, wooden boxes, burlap bags, and the smell of old fish...

Someone was shouting in a language he didn't understand. He twisted to look, and only then did it dawn on him that he had indeed landed on the ship. None too gracefully, to be sure, but at least he now had some semblance of solid ground beneath him.

As he twisted, he and the broom slid off the boxes and bags onto the deck. He made sure he held onto the broom...he wasn't sure why, but at this point he didn't feel ready to be parted from it.

Someone was still shouting and saying something in a very animated manner. The boy stood up and brushed himself off, and he saw an Oriental man standing on the deck, illuminated by a doorway just to his left, alternately pointing at the door, then at the boy, then at the sky, then repeating the sequence.

The boy just stood there, not sure of what to do or say, or indeed whether he should even try to say anything at all. As he mutely stood there, the young man standing opposite him continued to gesticulate and talk loudly, and eventually an older Oriental man came to the doorway, wiping his hands on the apron he was wearing.

He looked at the boy and chuckled, calmly said something to the young man who was still shouting and pointing alternately at the boy and the sky, but then stopped at whatever the older man said and stared warily at the boy.

"He say you fall from sky," the older man chuckled. The boy still wasn't sure if he should say anything, so he remained silent.

"He say you storm demon," the older man smiled, and the boy knew that he'd be better off not responding to that statement.

"Maybe you storm demon," the older man laughed, "maybe you stowaway."

The boy continued to stand mutely, the rain continuing to soak him, the wind continuing to blow his long, wet, greasy hair into his face.

"Maybe you cold and hungry," the old man grinned, gesturing to the door from which light was shining. "Come! Come!"

He continued to gesture to the door and while the boy still felt it was better not to say anything, he decided that it would be better not to say anything inside, out of the stinging rain, rather than continue to stand outside in the cold, wet dark.

He walked over to the door, still holding onto his mother's kitchen broom. He realized as he went past the old man and through the door that his legs were shaking, and that he was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

The old man said something in his own language to the younger man, who continued to eye the boy warily as he backed away, and then turned and went elsewhere on the ship.

The boy collapsed onto a metal and vinyl kitchen chair that was just inside the door, next to a table. He didn't know why -- at this point, he was too exhausted to think at all -- but he continued to hold onto the broom.

"My name Chun Ming Fong, but everyone call me 'Charlie'," the old man stated, pausing to allow the boy an opportunity to respond. When the boy remained silent, Charlie just smiled and shook his head, then went over to a stove that contained many pots that were simmering, and from which issued enticing, if unfamiliar, smells.

The boy's stomach growled loudly.

Charlie laughed and put a kettle of water on the stove to boil. He then took a ceramic teapot down from a shelf and a matching bowl, and when the kettle came to a boil, he poured the hot water over tealeaves in the ceramic pot. Once it had steeped awhile, he brought the pot and a small bowl over to the boy and poured out some tea into the bowl.

"Drink! Drink!" Charlie gestured. The boy laid his broom on the table and picked up the bowl with both hands -- the heat brought welcome relief to his numb fingers, but he was not used to drinking tea black and involuntarily grimaced at the taste.

Charlie laughed. "I think you English boy!" he exclaimed, placing a jar of sugar cubes on the table. "Even if you demon boy, Charlie think you like tea sweet!"

The boy greedily put many sugar cubes into his tea, and was amazed at how good the tea now tasted. He finished the bowl of tea in a few gulps and poured himself another with what was left in the teapot. After again adding many sugar cubes, he this time sipped the tea more slowly, savoring the flavor and the welcome warmth.

Charlie chuckled, turned to the stove, and ladled out bowls of the various substances that were simmering there. He then carried a tray laden with the filled bowls back to the table, and placed it in front of the boy, who recognized one bowl as rice, one as some sort of noodles, but the others were strange and unfamiliar.

"Eat! Eat!" Charlie admonished, placing a fork and spoon next to the bowls. The boy hesitated, but then hunger got the better of him and he started shoveling spoonfuls of everything into his mouth. The tastes that he experienced were strange to his palette, but delicious nonetheless.

As Charlie replenished the pot of tea, the young man he'd sent off earlier returned. He and Charlie exchanged words in their own language, and then the young man stood in the corner, warily staring at the boy, who continued to wolf down the food and gulp more hot, sweet tea.

"So what's your name?" a voice asked from the doorway.

Startled, the boy jumped up, grabbed his broom and moved away from the door in one movement.

"Whoa, cowboy!" the man in the doorway laughed. He wasn't Oriental, and he wore a type of uniform that was light gray in color. While English was obviously his primary tongue, he spoke with an accent that was unfamiliar to the boy.

The newcomer entered the room and sat in another of the chairs at the table, and gestured for the boy to resume his seat.

"Why don't you just park your steed there," he chuckled, pointing at the broom, "and finish eating?"

The boy watched the newcomer suspiciously, but slowly sat back down and resumed eating, keeping his eye on the man.

"You've met our cook, Charlie, here," the man stated, gesturing to the old man at the stove. "And this is Dah Yeu Ling back here, giving you the eye...he seems to think that you're a demon of some sort that just fell from the sky onto our ship..."

The boy decided this would be a good time to shovel an especially large spoonful of noodles into his mouth. He glanced warily from the man to Dah Yeu Ling and back as he slurped the noodles.

While the man had a cryptic smile, Dah Yeu Ling was obviously not convinced that a sopping wet little boy with noodles hanging out of his mouth still could not be a dangerous demon.

"My name is Frank Masek," the man continued. "I'm originally from Baltimore, Maryland, and I'm First mate on this ship. We're a day and a half out of Liverpool, heading for New York."

The boy mulled this over. He thought that "New York" sounded familiar, but he had no idea what country Maryland was, or where Baltimore would be in it.

"I'm not sure how you managed to stow away on our boat," Frank continued, "or how you managed to keep hidden for a day and a half, but we're not going to turn around...which means we're stuck with each other's company for the next couple of days. It'd be nice to be on a first name basis, I'd hate to spend all my time calling 'Hey you! Boy!'"

The boy slowly sipped another bowl of tea, debating with himself whether he should give his real name or not. He wasn't sure whether he had broken any laws or not, whether Muggle or Wizarding. He wasn't sure whether his mother had hexed the broom and maybe she'd get in trouble over what had happened, and he felt he should protect her.

Frank sighed, taking the boy's silence as a sign that he still refused to talk, when the reality was that the boy just didn't know what to say.

"Well," Frank said, "you and I are going to have to see the Captain."

He stood up, and it was obvious that he had decided that the boy's meal was over. Frank gestured to the door, so the boy stood up, taking the broom with him as he went out the door.

"This way," Frank indicated, pointing to steps going up to the next deck. The rain had diminished to a heavy mist, but it was still windy and raw.

At the top of the stairs, Frank steered the boy to the left and down the side of the ship.

"Does that broom go wherever you do?" Frank asked, by way of making conversation.

As confused as the boy was, he realized that continued silence would be considered rude, and that wouldn't help matters.

"It's my mother's," the boy answered, as if that explained it all.

Frank glanced sideways at him, and perhaps thought that the captain would have better luck in getting the boy to talk, because he remained silent as they continued down the side of the ship.

They reached another set of stairs that Frank indicated he should go up, and then Frank guided him to a door that had "Captain" stenciled on it. Frank knocked, and from within an older, deeper man's voice called out, "Come in!"

Frank turned to the boy and in a low voice said, "Stay here. Don't move." He then entered the cabin and closed the door.

The boy could hear both voices, but not what was being said. As he waited, he became aware of a movement in the inside breast pocket of his coat, and he remembered Lily's flower. He checked, and even though it was wet, it was still opening and closing.

Was it just that morning that she had performed her magic on it, and bestowed it on him with a kiss? It now seemed days...ages ago.

He wondered what his mother was thinking at that moment.

Whatever "groovy" meant, he was sure that the day had not ended that way.

The door opened, and Frank beckoned him to enter. As the boy stepped through the doorway, he braced himself for the yelling that he was sure was going to be directed at him.

Instead, he saw a Muggle with gray hair and beard wearing some sort of a uniform, sitting at a desk and smoking a pipe. Frank gestured for the boy to sit opposite the captain, then Frank waited by the door.

The captain took a few puffs on his pipe, watching the boy intently and saying nothing. His eyes, while not unkind, were dark and bright at the same time, and the boy knew that little was missed by those eyes.

"I have a grandson just about your age, I think," the captain stated, taking the boy slightly off guard. "Eight? Nine? Possibly ten years old, I think?"

The boy quickly weighed his options; these people seemed nice enough, but he was in their power, at least for the time being. There was nothing to be gained by antagonizing them by remaining silent.

"I'm nine years old, sir," the boy stated. He saw nothing to be gained by lying about the matter.

"Hmmm," the captain nodded, puffing on his pipe for a few seconds and then he leaned over the desk, offering his right hand.

"I'm Herb Wallace, captain of this ship. You can call me 'Captain Wallace', or 'Captain Herb', or just 'Captain', if that suits you. And you are...?"

The boy quickly assessed his options. He knew that Frank must have told the captain that he hadn't given his name when asked earlier. But as nice as everyone was treating him, somehow he felt that he shouldn't give his real name.

"Harry, sir," the boy answered, taking the captain's hand and shaking it.

"'Harry'...," the captain mused, not letting go of his hand. The boy guessed that the captain suspected it was not his real name by the way the man stared into his eyes, as if he could read his mind.

"And your last name?" the captain asked, letting go of the boy's hand at last and leaning back into his chair.

"Uh, Prince, sir," the boy stammered, his mother's maiden name the only one that could quickly come to mind.

"Well, Master 'Harry Prince', it's my understanding that you've had something to eat and drink, but those clothes look pretty wet and cold, so I think we might find something warm and dry for you to wear tonight..."

The captain glanced up at Frank, and then looked back at the boy.

"We'll decide tomorrow what's to become of you, but in the meantime try to get a good night's sleep...and I think, since you seem so attached to that broom, that we can have you put it to good use for the rest of the voyage..."

The captain looked up at the First Mate with a dry smile and winked. The boy understood that he was being dismissed. He stood up, and followed Frank out of the door.

"Good night, 'Harry'," the captain called after him. The boy had almost forgotten about the new name; he paused at the doorway and turned back to the captain.

"Good night...and thank you, sir."

He left the captain, who remained sitting at his desk, puffing pensively on his pipe.

The boy was given a cot in the same room off of the kitchen as Dah Yeu Ling, who was not happy having to share the cramped space with a demon, nor did having to give up some of his clothes so that the demon's own clothes could be cleaned and dried.

The fact that the demon, before taking off his clothes, first took from his breast pocket a flower which strangely continually opened and closed, and that the demon insisted on taking it with him into the bathroom as he cleaned himself, and then took the flower to bed with him, convinced Dah Yeu Ling that strange magic was definitely afoot.

But since the demon was affable enough to everyone on board and did as he was told -- specifically putting his broom to use sweeping the decks -- Dah Yeu Ling could not convince anyone else of the demon's evil intentions. But he knew that the demon knew that he knew, so Dah Yeu Ling took to sleeping out on deck for the rest of the voyage.

After a couple of days, the First Mate came and got the boy as he was finishing his breakfast, and took him back to the captain's quarters. Captain Herb was standing behind his desk looking out a porthole, his hands behind his back. When Frank and the boy entered, they both took seats on the other side of the desk and waited.

"Well, 'Harry'," the captain began, turning around and taking his own seat, forming a sort of steeple of his fingers and resting his chin on his thumbs.

"We've made a few inquiries back in England, and no one seems to have any record a Harry or Harold Prince of your age and description."

The captain again peered intently at the boy, who wondered if the man could perform legilmancy.

"Of course, maybe you just fell through cracks in the system. Maybe someone misplaced your records. Maybe no one's bothered to report you missing. Maybe you're lying about your name, and maybe you have your own reasons for not telling us more about where you come from..."

As the captain leaned back in his chair, the boy wondered if indeed his parents hadn't reported him missing -- and what that meant if that were true.

"You've been one of the better stowaways that we've had over the years," the captain continued. "Hardworking. If you were older, I'd seriously consider offering you a job onboard."

The captain again rested his chin on his thumbs, intently considering the boy.

"Unfortunately, you're underage, and the only option I have is to turn you over to the Social Service people when we dock in New York later this morning..."

The boy had no idea what "Social Service people" were, but by the tone of Captain Herb's voice and the look in his and Frank's eyes, the boy was sure that this wasn't something to look forward to.

"They'll probably get in touch with the British Consulate on your behalf, and they'll try to track down your parents...

I wish you luck, 'Harry'..."

The boy thought that both Captain Herb and First Mate Frank looked very sad, which made him very uncomfortable. He debated whether he should tell them his real name and where he was from, but he still wasn't sure that it wasn't his mother who had hexed the broom, and he didn't want to get her in trouble.

He decided that as soon as he could, he'd send an owl to her telling her what had happened...she'd know what to do.

Frank took him back to his cabin, and helped him pack the 'volunteered' clothes in an old, used duffle bag. As they went back out on deck, Frank sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"Listen, kid," he started, "I don't know what your real story is...but as soon as the authorities get you into the system, it can get pretty tough. Don't get me wrong, they all have your best interest at heart, and hopefully your situation will get resolved real soon, they'll find your parents and you'll be home soon..."

Frank dug deep into his pant's pocket, pulled out a roll of pieces of paper in various shades of green, and shoved it into the boy's hands.

Seeing the boy's blank stare, Frank stated, "It's money. American money."

The boy was little used to money of any sort. He'd seen his father with bits of paper that he called 'money', but they looked different than these. His mother had explained about wizarding money, but those were all metal coins.

"Listen, you don't want to be seen with all that," Frank continued, and if on cue, Dah Yeu Ling came out on deck and eyed them suspiciously.

"Hey! You!" Frank shouted at him, which caused both Dah Yeu Ling and the boy to jump. Frank grabbed the boy's broom and tossed it at Dah Yeu Ling.

"Go sweep the deck outside the captain's quarters!"

Dah Yeu Ling, looking alternately resentful and relieved, disappeared around the corner.

"Sorry, 'Harry'," Frank apologized, turning back to the boy, "but Social Services would have taken that thing away from you anyway."

Before the boy had time to register his loss, Frank sat the boy down and showed him how to split the money up and hide it in various places on his person and in his shoes. They then walked over to the other side of the ship and watched as their destination grew closer.

The boy noticed something in the harbor as they got closer. Frank explained that it was a statue called "Liberty Enlightening the World", but usually called just "The Statue of Liberty" or "Lady Liberty". Frank explained about the hundreds of thousands of people who had left their home countries to come here to create a better life for themselves.

The boy wasn't sure that he quite understood everything that Frank said, but it sounded sort of nice. This surprised him, because he never had had any pleasant experiences with Muggles before. But these Muggles had been nice to him, and even Dah Yeu Ling, who feared him, had treated him with a resentful respect.

And here this particular Muggle had given him money and was talking to him about freedom and the pursuit of happiness and the ability to be whatever one worked hard enough to be. This was a side of Muggles that the boy had never seen before. Now he began to understand how someone like Lily could come from such people.

At that thought, the boy retrieved her flower from inside his coat pocket. It still opened and closed, but not as quickly, and with a pang the boy realized that exactly one week had passed. Lily would be returning today, she'd be going to the playground and he wouldn't be there. How many days would she go looking for him before giving up? Would she think that he'd forgotten about her?

He resolved to send her an owl message also at the same time that he wrote to his mother...

He looked up from the flower as something blocked the sun...they were passing the Liberty statue, and the boy was surprised at how big it was. She held a flaming wand aloft, and her severe features surprisingly reminded him of his mother, which only intensified his growing feeling of homesickness.

He was surprised to feel a few tears drop on his cheeks, which he quickly wiped away, hoping that Frank hadn't seen. Perhaps he hadn't, because Frank had become involved in directing a small boat to help guide their ship into dock.

The ship finally came to stop at a berth, and Frank came and got the boy as a sort of bridge was placed between the ship and the dock so that people could leave the ship.

"This is it, 'Harry'," Frank told him, putting his arm around the boy's shoulder and guiding him off of the ship.

On the dock, they were met by a middle-aged, heavyset woman who was carrying a manila folder stuffed with papers.

"You from Social Services?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, I'm Mabelle Williams, social worker assigned to this case...this is the boy I assume?"

She adjusted her glasses and peered down at the boy, who had the distinct feeling that if this woman had been a witch, he'd be a particularly intriguing ingredient for a new potion she was inventing.

"Well, he's clean, I'll say that for him!" the woman stated, which the boy found odd.

"Here, sign here!" she added, shoving her sheaf of papers at Frank.

After signing, Frank turned to the boy.

"Well, this is it, kid," he said, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'm sure that whatever your situation, your parents miss you very much, and you'll soon be back home with them!"

The boy figured that this wasn't the time to tell Frank that he was only half-right about his parents. But Lily missing him and him missing her was infinitely worse than him not missing his father and his father not caring that he was gone.

Instead, the boy just shook Frank's hand and said, "Thank you, sir." At this, Mabelle Williams raised her eyebrows and said to Frank, "Well, if all else fails, we can always get him a part in 'Oliver!'..."

Frank chuckled; the boy figured it was some sort of Muggle joke that he'd never understand.

"Well, come on then," the woman commanded, grabbing the boy by the shoulder and steering him up the dock. "The sooner we get you processed, the sooner we can get you placed somewhere..."

For some reason the boy thought that statement did not bode well for his timely return to his own country. As if to reinforce this feeling of isolation, something splashed in the water off of the ship as the boy walked by. When he looked he saw his mother's broom floating out to sea, and Dah Yeu Ling jumping up and down on deck three stories above him, cackling madly in his own language and calling out in broken English, "So long, demon boy! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! No fly!"

The social worker frowned as Frank went running up the gangway, then she continued to steer the boy up the dock, to an old, fairly beat up car that smelled of stale cigarettes and old pizza. The boy had to brush aside a few petrified french fries from the passenger seat before sitting on it.

As they pulled away from the dock and into traffic, the woman glanced over at the boy and said, "My name is Mrs. Williams, and I'll be your caseworker..."

While her tone was nice enough, the obvious fact that Mrs. Williams did not want to be on a first name basis was not lost on the boy, and only increased his desire to return to the two people in the world who truly cared for him. He gazed longingly at Lily's flower, and fought back tears at the thought of his mother's broom floating in the water...

"So," Mrs. Williams asked, leaning over and turning on the car's radio, "what's your name, really?"

The boy thought a moment, and listened to the song playing on the radio:

_...Somebody holds the key  
__Well, I'm near the end  
__And I just ain't got the time  
__Well, I'm wasted and I can't find my way home.  
__Oh, and I'm wasted, and I can't find my way home.  
__But I can't find my way home.  
__But I can't find my way home.  
__But I can't find my way home.  
__Still, I can't find my way home..._

He really, really wanted to go home now.

"Severus," he answered at last. "My name is Severus Snape."

* * *

Come down off your throne  
_And leave your body alone  
__Somebody must change  
__You are the reason  
__I've been waiting so long  
__Somebody holds the key  
__Well, I'm near the end  
__And I just ain't got the time  
__Well, I'm wasted and I can't find my way home. _

_Come down on your own  
__And leave your money at home  
__Somebody must change  
__You are the reason  
__I've been waiting so long  
__Somebody holds the key  
__Well, I'm near the end  
__And I just ain't got the time  
__Well, I'm wasted and I can't find my way home. _

_Oh, and I'm wasted, and I can't find my way home.  
__But I can't find my way home.  
__But I can't find my way home.  
__But I can't find my way home. _

_Still, I can't find my way home.  
__And I can't find my way home.  
__But I can't find my way home._

CAN'T FIND MY WAY HOME  
Blind Faith  
1969


	3. Chapter 1 A Little Help From My Friends

"Mabelle...Mabelle Williams!"

Mrs. Williams shifted in her chair and played with the papers in a manila folder on her desk as she waited exasperatedly on the phone.

"One more time...I'm a social worker for the city of New York, and I have a little boy here from _your_ country who shouldn't be here!"

The little boy in question sat in a corner, rooting around the bottom of a McDonald's bag for the last of some french fries.

"I _know_ it's Saturday! Aren't you people open 24/7!?"

Mrs. Williams paused.

"Well, if _I _can come into work on _my_ day off, seems to me one of _your_ people could come in to take this matter off of _our_ hands!"

She again paused.

"Snape. Severus Snape. Someone's already been in touch with you people about this from the ship...a Caption Wallace, or maybe a Frank Makek, or was it Masek? The First Mate...but the boy gave them a false name, a 'Harry' or 'Harold Prince'..."

Mrs. Williams paused for a much longer time.

"I _know_ there is a time difference between here and London! But you people are here in _our_ time zone, isn't there someone who can come in and take this boy?"

Severus sipped his cup of cola and started to think that getting back home was going to be much more difficult than he had thought.

Mrs. Williams sighed loudly and stated into the phone, "S-E-V-E-R-U-S, S-N-A-P-E. He says he's from someplace called 'Spinners End'...how am I supposed to know where that is, it's _your_ country! No, I already asked, he doesn't know what street he lives on and says they don't have a phone. Father's name is Tobias...Toe-Buy-Us! T-O-B-I-A-S. Mother's name's Eileen, y'know how to spell _that_!?"

Mrs. Williams looked at Severus, shook her head, rolled her eyes, and then fished out of her over-large handbag a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Something that was said on the other end caused her to sigh yet again as she lit herself a cigarette and took a deep drag.

"OK, I understand that it's Saturday night in London and no one's around to try to track down this kid's parents...huh? What? I'll ask him..."

She turned to Severus.

"Hey kid, what does your father do?"

Severus looked back at her blankly.

"Hello?! What does your father _do_ for a living?"

"He works in a factory."

Mrs. Williams turned back to the phone.

"He says his father works in a factory..."

She again looked up at Severus.

"What factory?"

Severus shrugged.

Mrs. Williams took a long drag on her cigarette, turned back to the phone and said, "He doesn't know."

She turned so that her back was mostly to Severus, and even though she lowered her voice he could clearly hear her say, "You know, I wonder if this kid's a little...slow. You know, mentally challenged. Could explain him wandering off, could also explain why maybe his parents aren't looking for him. Hey, it happens! I see it all the time in my job!"

There followed one of the longest pauses in the conversation to that point. Finally Mrs. Williams sighed one of her loudest and longest sighs, and after taking a long drag on the cigarette stated into the phone, "Fine! If no one from the Embassy will come and take this boy today, that means I have to enter him into the City of New York's foster system and find him a place to stay tonight, and that's a whole other kettle of fish! Not to mention all the paperwork involved!"

Mrs. Williams paused again; Severus made a loud noise as he sipped the last of the soda through the straw.

"Who?" Mrs. Williams grabbed a pencil and scribbled something on the outside of the manila folder containing Severus' file. "And this person will be in tomorrow? And what time will they be in? Hmm-mmm. Well, you have him call me first thing, OK? You have both my numbers, right? Hmm-mmm. Well, you make sure he calls me cuz he will definitely be hearing from _me_ if he doesn't!"

Mrs. Williams slammed the phone down and looked at Severus, who continued to noisily sip the melting ice through the straw in his cup. She then fished around in her bag and took out a handful of coins.

"Here, Severus...if you go up the stairs right there and take a right at the top, you'll find the lunch room, you can buy yourself a juice or soda or some snacks if you want..."

Severus put his cup down and got up without a word, went over to Mrs. Williams and took the coins from her hand. As he left her office and crossed over to the stairwell, he heard her dialing the phone on her desk.

He found the lunchroom easily enough, but wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. There were brightly lit machines, some with clear glass fronts showing food inside, some showing pictures of soda and juice, others showing displays of steaming hot coffee, tea, and cocoa.

Severus understood that he was supposed to buy something from these machines, but he was not sure how they worked, neither did he understand this Muggle money.

He went over to the machine displaying soft drinks; there were large buttons with pictures of different flavors of drinks under various doors in the front of the machine. One showed a cola, one showed a ginger ale, one showed root beer, one showed something called 'fruit punch'.

Severus thought the bright red fruit punch looked like it might be tasty, and after looking at the machine for about a minute he figured out that one should put the money in a specific slot and push the button under the picture of the drink one desired.

He didn't know how much money to use, so he put all the coins in the slot, and then pressed the button under the fruit punch door.

He heard something moving within the machine, and then saw a lot of coins spilling into a slot at the bottom. He understood that the machine had returned the extra money he had put in, but it took him a minute to discover where the fruit punch was that he had ordered.

As he sipped the fruit punch, he took the rest of the money from the coin return slot and went over to the food machine.

There were sandwiches inside, but he had just eaten two hamburgers so those didn't interest him. But there were also packages of cake slices and cupcakes and biscuits and various types of candy that intrigued the little boy.

But this machine was much more complicated than the drink machine, plus Severus wasn't sure if he now had enough money for what he wanted.

He glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching, but he was all alone. Would it work? Well, the only thing for it was to try...he pointed at the machine.

"Accio chocolate cake!"

He was quite surprised when a slice of chocolate cake with vanilla icing wrapped in cardboard and clear plastic slipped from its slot in the display rack and fell to the bottom of the machine. Severus easily retrieved it and was amazed that Muggle machines, which heretofore had confused him, were so easily manipulated.

He knew he was violating the law against the use of magic by under-aged wizards, but he hoped that by doing so it _would_ bring someone from the magickal community to his aid.

"Accio Oreos!"

"Accio Fig Newtons!"

"Accio Lorna Doones!"

Some of the biscuits looked so good that Severus accio'd them several times.

"Accio Good 'n' Plenty!"

Severus liked licorice...he accio'd a few more boxes.

"Accio Almond Joy!"

A few of those for good measure.

"Accio M&Ms!"

Severus cleared out the machine's stock.

"Accio Neccos!" -- because they looked interesting.

Severus took time out to eat the chocolate cake and munch a handful of Good 'n' Plenty candies. He stuffed the rest of the stash in various pockets...he had a feeling that he'd be glad to have saved it for later.

For good measure he accio'd a few sandwiches and bags of chips and also stuffed them into his pockets.

Severus returned to Mrs. Williams' office, laying her change before her on her desk, then went back to his seat, sipping his fruit punch and pouring bits of candy into his mouth.

He sat back, confidant that someone from the American Ministry of Magic would be along shortly to find out why under-aged magick had been performed, and then everything would be straightened out and he'd soon be on his way home..

Mrs. Williams was talking on the phone, but she pushed the coins around on her desk and then looked up at Severus with a slightly quizzical look on her face.

"Yes, he's a little English boy, nine years old. It'll just be for tonight...perhaps two nights. I'll make sure you get paid for a full week, how's that? I just need someone to take him for the weekend, if we're lucky someone from the Embassy will come in tomorrow and take him, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for _that_ to happen! Most likely we won't hear from them until Monday morning..."

Mrs. Williams paused, crossed her fingers, and then heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank you! Thank you! I'll bring him right over, should be there in half an hour or so!"

Mrs. Williams looked at Severus and gave a 'thumbs up' signal, then hung up the phone.

"OK, young man...no one's at the Embassy today who can take care of you...maybe someone will be in tomorrow, in which case we can turn you over to them then..."

She had walked over to him and held out her arm in a manner that indicated she expected him to stand up, so he did, picking up his duffle bag at the same time.

She walked him back to her desk, stating, "I don't really expect anyone's going to come in on a Sunday, maybe they will, but at the very least we need a place for you to stay for tonight..."

Severus didn't really understand anything she was talking about. He guessed that the "Embassy" that she kept talking about was some sort of Muggle agency that ultimately wouldn't matter because his misuse of magick should have been noticed by now, and someone from the local Ministry of Magic would be along to take him.

So "a place" for him to stay really didn't matter either, since he wouldn't be staying -- but the fact that Mrs. Williams had arranged for him to stay somewhere other than with her wasn't lost on the boy.

She turned to grab her handbag, and paused as she swept the change from on top her desk into her wallet. Then without a word she guided Severus out of the office and toward the outer door.

"That's a neat trick you pulled, Severus," she stated, without pausing in her stride. Severus sipped some punch and raised his eyebrows as he looked at her sideways.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Mrs. Williams continued, as they reached the outer door, which she held open for the boy to go through.

"You gave me back more change than there should have been if you _bought_ that drink _and_ that candy _and_..."

She stopped quickly, so Severus did, too. Mrs. Williams was eyeing him critically.

"..._and_ especially if you'd actually _bought_ all that stuff that's in your pockets!"

For the first time Severus actually felt embarrassed, and he could feel his face getting hot. He hadn't considered the consequences of breaking _Muggle_ laws...

Mrs. Williams made a sound like a huff, smirked, and then resumed guiding Severus to her car.

"I'm hoping _not_ to find those machines broken when I get back! But you returned _my_ change at least, the rest is the City of New York's worry!"

Mrs. Williams chuckled to herself as she opened the car door for the boy. Severus wondered why even an owl from the local Ministry of Magic hadn't shown up yet.

They drove for quite some time, actually a good portion of the time was spent just sitting in traffic.

Severus lost all sense of direction, and wished that they would get to wherever their destination was soon, as he now really needed to go to the bathroom.

The buildings changed from upscale stores to nice apartments, then to shabbier looking businesses and apartments.

After crossing a bridge, they started to pass many buildings that were just empty shells, and a lot of empty lots strewn with garbage.

Finally they came to an area where there were clusters of very tall apartment buildings; even though they were taller apartments than he had ever seen, there was a familiarity to them that Severus recognized.

"I suppose you're not used to these types of apartments," Mrs. Williams stated suddenly who, based on some things she had said earlier to the boy, seemed to be under the impression that everyone in England lived in castles or country estates.

"These are what we call 'projects'," she continued, "...affordable housing for people with low incomes..."

"They're called 'council estates' where I come from," Severus answered.

"I live in one," he added defiantly. "Not in a tall building like these, though..."

He didn't know why he took offense at Mrs. Williams' presumption that he wasn't poor. It shouldn't matter _what _she thought, someone from the Ministry of Magic was going to be along shortly to take him home.

Mrs. Williams looked at him out of the corner of her eye, a slight questioning look on her face, but the boy said no more and she didn't push him.

They passed a sign stating "Co-Op City", and pulled into a parking lot by one of the building clusters. She then guided Severus into a building and to an elevator.

As they waited, Severus could hear a lot of noise, both inside and out. Babies crying, children yelling, adults shouting at and to each other, dogs barking, music and TVs blaring...

There were symbols and words spray-painted on the walls that the boy didn't understand, and a few that he recognized as being his father's favorite curse words.

The elevator finally arrived, and it also had graffiti sprayed inside of it; one bulb in the overhead light was burned out, the floor was sticky, and the smell of urine was unmistakable.

Mrs. Williams pushed a button marked "23", and the door closed and Severus experienced a strange sensation of being pressed into the floor.

The buttons lit on and off in turn: 1, 2, 3...it stopped at "15", and Severus experienced a feeling almost of floating as the elevator clanked, and the door opened.

A girl got in; she was a little taller than Severus, who guessed that she must be at least 12, maybe 13 years old.

Her skin was the color of coffee with just a touch of cream, and she had dark, curly brown hair that surrounded her head like a lion's mane and fell just past her shoulders.

Keeping it under only slight control was a bright pink headband with yellow and lavender flowers. She wore pink Capri's with a lavender top and bright yellow sandals, and had sunflower earrings dangling from her earlobes.

Severus thought that she was the second most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, Lily of course being the first.

The girl, on the other hand, at first looked at Severus with surprise, then looked him up and down with the all-too-common look of contempt that Severus was unfortunately used to.

But after pressing button number "42", the girl turned as the door closed and looked at Mrs. Williams. She took particular note of the manila folder that the woman was carrying, and then glanced back at the panel of numbered buttons.

After noting what floor they were going to, the girl turned towards Severus and this time her eyes were kind, and as Severus looked up at her she smiled ever so slightly at him.

Severus had enough experience to recognize the look as one of pity, but he'd much rather have this girl's pity than her contempt.

Too soon the elevator stopped at the 23rd floor, and Mrs. Williams guided Severus out into the hallway. Severus looked back at the elevator, and as the door was closing he saw the girl lean out, wave, and then wink at him.

Severus was flabbergasted. She was probably only a Muggle, but she was one of the prettiest he'd seen, and she'd been nice to him. She had smiled at him. She had actually WINKED at him!

But she'd disappeared behind the closing door, and Severus turned back around to see where Mrs. Williams was taking him.

There were similar sounds here as he'd heard downstairs. In addition, since it was now around suppertime, various unfamiliar cooking smells combined with the smell of stale urine and tobacco in the graffiti'd hall.

"You'll be staying here for tonight," Mrs. Williams told him, as they neared the end of the hall. "This is a very nice family, they take in foster kids all the time, in fact you'll meet a couple of them already there..."

Severus couldn't think of anything to say, and suspected that Mrs. Williams didn't really expect him to anyway, so he kept silent. And wondered if the local Ministry of Magic could find him here.

They reached a door at the end of the hall; there was no overhead light here, and little natural light from the setting sun came through the dirty, cracked window on the outer wall.

Mrs. Williams knocked on the door, and as they waited Severus interested himself in watching a couple of cockroaches scamper through an opening in the wall under the window where a heating pipe was attached to a radiator.

The door opened, and they were greeted by a tiny woman with salt-and-pepper hair.

"Mrs. Sarmiento, how are you?" Mrs. Williams asked in a tone that indicated that she didn't really care, and before the other woman could answer Mrs. Williams ushered Severus into the apartment.

They stood in a small vestibule covered with religious icons; when Mrs. Sarmiento closed the door, the noise from the other apartments was muted enough so that Severus could hear hymns playing from somewhere farther in the Sarmiento apartment.

Mrs. Sarmiento looked Severus up and down several times.

"He sick?" she demanded.

"No! No, he's perfectly healthy!" Mrs. Williams protested loudly.

"I think he's just small for his age," she added in a quieter voice. "I'm not sure that his parents fed him properly, we're labeling it as a case of neglect..."

"He's awfully pale..." Mrs. Sarmiento protested.

"He's English," Mrs. Williams stated, as if that explained everything. "You know, Great Britain? Where The Beatles come from? They don't get a lot of sun over there, it's foggy all the time..."

Severus was disinclined to disabuse the women of their ignorance; besides, he didn't understand what insects had to do with anything, anyway.

Mrs. Sarmiento nodded, still evaluating Severus, then said, "Well, Yesmina was very pale when you brought her...still is. By the way, she needs glasses, broke the pair she had."

"Yes, "Mrs. Williams answered, "how _is_ Yesmina? I'd like to see her and Angel and DeWard while I'm here."

Severus thought that Mrs. Sarmiento looked a little annoyed at the request, but she ushered them into the kitchen without a word.

In the next room a young man with shoulder-length hair and a goatee sat smoking a cigarette and watching TV. He looked up as Mrs. Williams and Severus entered the kitchen.

"That is my son, Luis," Mrs. Sarmiento stated.

"Yes, I've met him before," Mrs. Williams answered, and Severus had the sense that was none too impressed with Luis.

But Severus was more interested in what was cooking on top of the stove...it smelled strange, but made his stomach growl.

"Luis," Mrs. Sarmiento called to her son, "are the kids home?"

Severus noticed a slight furrowing of Mrs. Williams' brow, but she said nothing. Luis got up from his overstuffed chair with a grunt, and went down the hall. They heard him open a door and yell, "Hey, youze! Get out here!"

Although Luis was much younger, he reminded Severus very much of his father.

Luis came back down the hall and flopped back into his chair in the living room.

Three children followed him, and stood in the hallway just outside of the kitchen.

Two of the children were about Severus' age, and the third was a toddler who cowered behind the legs of the other two.

Mrs. Williams knelt down, held open her arms, and called, "DeWard! How's my boy doing?"

DeWard shyly came out from behind the older children and came to Mrs. Williams, but Severus noticed that the child kept glancing up to Mrs. Sarmiento.

Mrs. Williams gave DeWard a hug, but also evaluated him with a critical eye.

"What's this here?" she asked, indicating a large scab on the boy's leg.

"Oh, the kids they was playin', jumpin' off the furniture and DeWard hit his leg..." Mrs. Sarmiento explained.

Mrs. Williams seemed to accept the explanation, but Severus noticed the older girl and boy glancing at each other, and then at him as Mrs. Sarmiento spoke.

Mrs. Williams stood up and took a step closer to the other two children.

"Yesmina...Angel...how are you two doing?"

"Fine," answered the girl.

"Fine," the boy said, a half second after the girl.

To Severus it seemed obvious that things _weren't_ fine, but Mrs. Williams seemed to accept the children's answer.

"Well," she said, turning to Severus, "you'll be having company this weekend. This here is Severus..."

Mrs. Williams put her arm around Severus' shoulders.

"He's from England," she added. "We're trying to get him home, but he needs a place to stay for a couple of days..."

When Mrs. Williams said his name, Yesmina and Angel only showed mild interest, but when Mrs. Williams had said that he was from England, they now found him to be much more interesting.

Mrs. Williams fished into her bag and took out her wallet. She gave Mrs. Sarmiento some money, saying, "Get the kids some pizza or something..."

She put her wallet away and walked out into the hall, followed by Mrs. Sarmiento. Mrs. Williams stopped in the doorway and turned to look at Severus.

"Now you be a good boy, Severus, and listen to what Mrs. Sarmiento tells you! I'll probably see you sometime on Monday..."

She turned to Mrs. Sarmiento.

"I'll give you a call tomorrow evening to see how things are going..."

She turned and walked down the hall, followed by Mrs. Sarmiento who said to her, "Oh, everything will be fine, don't worry..."

Something else was said at the door that Severus couldn't make out, and then Mrs. Williams was gone.

Mrs. Sarmiento came back up the hall and stood in the doorway, again evaluating Severus.

Luis got up from his chair, turned off the TV, then went over to a stereo and took off the record album of hymns that had been playing, replacing it with a loud rock album.

He then retrieved a box from behind a Bible on a shelf, took something out of it which he proceeded to light and then smoke. He then joined his mother in the hallway, evaluating Severus.

Luis said something to his mother in a language that Severus couldn't understand, and Mrs. Sarmiento answered him in the same language. Luis then came into the kitchen, grabbed Severus' duffle bag, opened it and pawed through the contents.

"Crap!" he exclaimed, throwing the bag back down at Severus' feet. He then walked back to his mother, asking something in the other language.

A heated discussion ensued between mother and son, which ended with the son making a dismissive gesture, taking a long drag on what he was smoking, turning the stereo up and throwing himself back onto his chair in the living room.

"You kids go play in your room, I'm gonna order some pizza," Mrs. Sarmiento told them.

Yesmina and Angel turned to go, DeWard clinging to Yesmina. Severus followed them down the hall and into a room that had a mattress, a small dresser, and some blankets and sleeping bags on the floor.

Angel closed the door, reducing the noise of the stereo to a loud thumping. He looked at Severus, who just stood there holding his duffle bag, wondering what was going to happen next.

"Hang that thing here," Angel said to him, pointing from the duffle bag to a hook attached to the closet door. "If you put it on the floor, the roaches'll take it over..."

Severus hung the bag up without a word.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Angel said, more of an observation than a question.

Severus shrugged.

"That's OK," Angel stated. "Have a seat..."

He indicated the mattress where Yesmina was playing with DeWard. As Severus sat on it, Yesmina looked up at Angel, who was sitting on a pile of blankets.

"What were they arguing about, Angel?"

"He wanted to keep the money for themselves, but she said that when they came for him..."

Angel gestured towards Severus.

"...that he'd tell them that they hadn't bought food like they were told to..."

Angel turned to Severus.

"So we have you to thank for us having pizza tonight..."

"Yay! Pizza!" DeWard exclaimed, clapping his hands.

"Yay! Pizza!" Yesmina laughed, clapping her hands with DeWard's.

Severus tried not to stare at her; he had never seen anyone so pale in his life. She had long, straight blond hair that was almost white, and her skin was almost translucent. But what really fascinated him were her huge violet eyes.

"So," Angel interrupted, "you from England." Again, this was stated more as an observation than a question.

"Yes," Severus answered shyly. He was really confused at this point and had no idea what was going to happen to him. He couldn't understand why no local representative of the Ministry of Magic hadn't shown up yet, and he wondered if he dared risk performing some more magick here, and if so, what?

"'Yes'!" Angel said, attempting to mimic Severus' accent. Yesmina giggled.

"Say something else!" she told Severus.

"What?" Severus asked. Yesmina just giggled.

"You know The Beatles?" Angel asked him.

"What beetles?" Severus asked in return. This was getting more and more confusing.

"Or The Stones?" Angel continued.

"What stones?" Severus again asked. What did insects and rocks have to do with anything?

"Y'know, from Liverpool!" Angel exclaimed.

"Are you from Liverpool, Severus?" Yesmina asked.

"No, I live in Spinners End," Severus answered, glad to be able to say something that made a modicum of sense.

"Is that anywhere near Liverpool?" Angel asked.

"Or London?" Yesmina added. "I'd love to go to London, especially Carnaby Street!"

"Where?" Severus asked. "No. I mean, no, I don't think it's anywhere near there. It's up north...nothing important nearby..."

"I just _love_ your accent!" Yesmina exclaimed.

"Yeah, it'll be real handy when we go out tomorrow..." Angel stated.

Yesmina glared at Angel, then said, "You don't think he's going to make him go out with us, do you?"

"Sure, why not?" Angel answered.

Severus could not make heads or tails of the conversation, but at that moment DeWard started grabbing at the food Severus had stashed in his pockets. DeWard pulled out a candy bar.

"Whaddya got in those pockets?" Angel demanded, getting up and coming over. Before Severus could say anything, Angel had started frisking him.

"Where'd you'd get all of this?" he asked, as the seemingly unending supply of sandwiches and snacks kept appearing. "That social work lady wouldn't've bought ya all this..."

DeWard tried to grab everything that appeared, but Yesmina carefully took everything away and laid it aside out of his reach.

"I took it out of the machines they had there," Severus answered, not being all that sure where "there" had been...and deciding not to elaborate on just _how_ he had taken them.

"Ha! Smash and grab, huh?" Angel asked, a newfound respect for Severus showing on his face.

"Here," he said, picking up the food that Yesmina had stacked to the side and giving it back to Severus. "Hide it back in your pockets. If they..."

Angel cocked his head to the bedroom door.

"..find out you have all this food, then we can kiss the pizza goodbye! Hang that coat on that hook too, or else the roaches'll steal it from you."

Severus hid the food back in his pockets and took his coat off, hanging it over his duffle bag on the hook.

He then leaned over and whispered in Angel's ear.

"Oh, it's right across the hall!" Angel exclaimed loudly.

Severus blushed slightly and glanced at Yesmina, but she seemed to be preoccupied with DeWard.

When he came back into the bedroom a few minutes later, the stereo in the living room was blaring:

_What do I do when my love is away?  
(Does it worry you to be alone?)  
How do I feel by the end of the day?  
(Are you sad because you're on your own?)_

_  
_"That's The Beatles!" Angel shouted at him.

"What?" Severus asked.

"The Beatles! Singing that song!"

Before Severus could respond (not that he really knew what to say), there came a shout from the kitchen.

"Hey you kids! Get in here! Pizza's here!"

"Yay! Pizza!" DeWard exclaimed, running out the door. Yesmina was right behind him.

Severus enjoyed eating the pizza, and everyone found it very amusing that he had never had any before. And because he'd mentioned that he thought that what was cooking on the stove smelled very good, Mrs. Sarmiento let him have a serving of the rice and beans that had been what was originally planned for dinner.

Afterwards they were allowed to watch television, which Angel and Yesmina later told him rarely was allowed.

But finally Luis announced that "tomorrow will be a big day," indicating that he expected the children to go to bed immediately.

When they went back into the bedroom, Severus wasn't sure whether he should take a sleeping bag or lie on the blankets on the floor, but Yesmina, who was on the mattress with DeWard, patted the mattress and said, "There's enough room for you, too, Sev..."

Severus sat on the mattress, shyly placing himself as far away from Yesmina as possible. It seemed as if no one had any pajamas to change into, or decided not to.

Yesmina took DeWard across the hall, and when they came back a few minutes later they stepped over Angel, who had taken one of the sleeping bags and positioned himself in front of the door.

Yesmina turned off the light and got into bed with DeWard between her and Severus. Music could be heard coming from dozens of apartments in the vicinity, as could barking dogs, and occasionally shouting people.

The Beatles again started singing in the Sarmiento living room.

"Good night, Sev," Yesmina whispered, and she reached over and kissed him on his cheek before returning to her side of the mattress.

She and DeWard were soon asleep; Severus couldn't be sure of Angel, who he suspected was keeping guard for some reason.

But Severus got up quietly and retrieved Lily's flower from inside his coat pocket; he was relieved that it was still opening and closing, that showed that Lily was still thinking about him.

He laid there for some time, flat on his back, eyes wide open.

He now knew that no one from the Ministry of Magic was coming. Perhaps someone had shown up at the place where he had stolen the food, but he had already gone and they didn't know where he now was.

He could try doing magick again, but he wasn't sure what to do, and he wasn't sure that it would be safe to do it here. Luis was too much like Severus' father to risk him seeing Severus doing anything "strange".

The only thing to do was to wait to hear back from Mrs. Williams after she had gotten in touch with whatever "The Embassy" was, because she seemed to feel that the people there would be able to get him home.

For some reason, Severus felt that the sooner that happened, the better. There was something about this place that was more than it just being new and strange and Muggle...there was a clear sense of danger.

He never remembered wanting so much to see his mother; even his father -- better the devil you know than the one that you don't.

And Lily...he desperately needed to see Lily. He caressed her flower as a tear escaped.

He didn't know how long he stayed awake, but The Beatles were still singing when he finally drifted off to sleep...

* * *

What would you think if I sang out of tune?  
Would you stand up and walk out on me?  
Lend me you ears and I'll sing you a song,  
And I'll try not to sing out of key.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.  
(He gets by with a little help from his friends.)  
Oh, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

What do I do when my love is away?  
(Does it worry you to be alone?)  
How do I feel by the end of the day?  
(Are you sad because you're on your own?)

No, I get by with a little help from my friends.  
Mmm, I get high with a little help from my friends.  
Mmm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

(Do you need anybody?)  
I need somebody to love.  
(Could it be anybody?)  
I want somebody to love.

(Would you believe in love at first sight?)  
Yes, I'm certain that it happens all the time.  
(What do you see when you turn out the light?)  
I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.  
Mmm, I get high with a little help from my friends.  
Oh, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

(Do you need anybody?)  
I need someone to love.  
(Could it be anybody?)  
I want somebody to love.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.  
I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.  
I get high with a little help from my friends.  
Yeah, I'll get by with a little help from my friends.  
With a little help from my friends...

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS  
The Beatles


	4. Chapter 2 Can't Always Get What You Want

"Sev...Sev..."

Lily was calling for him, but he couldn't find her. He was riding his mother's kitchen broom again, but it was dark and foggy and windy and rainy all at the same time, and the broom didn't want to behave and the rain was making the candy in his pockets melt and the biscuits and sandwiches and chips turn to mush, and no matter what he did he kept just missing smashing into the Statue of Liberty...

"Severus!"

Now his mother was calling to him.

"Mum?" he called out, but like Lily, he couldn't find her.

"Sev? Sev!" Lily called out again, and this time the wind buffeted him so hard from side-to-side he was in danger of falling off.

"Severus!"

Severus awoke with a start to find himself in a strange room with a ghost of a girl leaning over him, shaking him.

He sat up and pulled away, startled, then remembered where he was and realized that it was just Yesmina waking him.

"Sorry," she apologized, and she really did look sad. "You were having a bad dream, and besides it's late..."

Severus looked around, still a little disoriented. There was no clock in the room but he could tell by the light coming in the window that it couldn't be much past dawn.

"We gotta have breakfast, and get into the city for the holy rollers," Angel added. He was changing DeWard's clothes.

Severus understood "breakfast", the rest of the sentence was lost on him.

"That's pretty," Yesmina said, pointing at Severus. He looked down and realized he was still holding Lily's flower.

Yesmina knelt on the mattress to take a closer look. "How does it do that?" she asked.

"I don't know," Severus lied, pushing himself a few inches away. It wasn't that he didn't like Yesmina, but she did seem rather forward.

"It looks so real!" Yesmina exclaimed, peering more closely. "Where'd'ya get it?"

"A friend gave it to me," Severus answered.

Yesmina grinned broadly.

"Sev's got a girlfriend!" she exclaimed. "Sev's got a girlfriend!"

Severus could feel his face getting hot.

"Way to go, amigo!" Angel exclaimed, as DeWard scampered away.

"What's her name?" Yesmina demanded, reaching for the flower to take a closer look.

"Lil...Lily," Severus stammered, pulling the flower out of Yesmina's reach.

"Oooh...must be a _special_ girlfriend!" Yesmina giggled.

"Hey, Sev! Youze got more than one?" Angel laughed. "Send a few my way you don't want!"

"Uh...no...no," Severus stammered, sliding off the mattress and standing up, moving a little farther away from Yesmina.

"She must really like you," Yesmina said wistfully.

"And I bet he really misses her!" Angel laughed. "_That's_ why he wants to get home so bad! So he and Lily can smooch-smooch-smooch-smooch!"

Angel made loud kissing noises; Yesmina giggled and joined in making the loud lip-smacking noises. Putting her arms around Angel's neck, they mimed kissing each other.

"_SHUT UP!_" Severus shouted, fighting back tears. How _dare_ they! "_**SHUT UP**_"

Angel and Yesmina pulled apart and just stood staring at Severus; DeWard cowered under a sleeping bag.

"Don't you!" Severus sputtered. "Don't you dare!" He balled up his fist and fought back tears. It felt like all the air had been squeezed from his lungs.

"Don't you _dare_ say anything about Lily!" He was ashamed that his voice cracked when he said it.

Yesmina's eyes were two large, liquid purple pools, and if anything, she was even paler.

"I'm sorry, Sev!" she cried, and it was obvious that she meant it.

"Yeah, dude," Angel added. "Didn't know she was _that_ special to you. You're right...someone like that, y'need to take care of, stand up for 'em..."

Severus was stunned...Muggles had never apologized to him before.

"No yelling!" DeWard cried out from under the sleeping bag. Yesmina laughed nervously and picked him up.

"It's OK, honey," she said to him. "We're just playing..."

"No yelling!" DeWard yelled, obviously not convinced.

Severus just stood there trembling, his fist still in a ball. He was ashamed when he felt the tears spilling from his eyes.

Angel stepped forward, offering his right hand.

"Everything's cool, amigo," he said. "You put that thing away somewhere safe, else DeWard'll think it's a toy..."

Severus looked down at Angel's hand and then at Angel's seriously sincere face. Severus tentatively took the other boy's hand, and after a vigorous shake, Angel stepped forward and slapped Severus on the back.

"Bueno!" Angel exclaimed. "Good to not have any bad blood..."

Severus did not understand what the quality of their blood had to do with anything, but he understood that these Muggle kids cared if they hurt his feelings.

Angel walked over to the closet. Yesmina, still holding DeWard, turned to Severus with tears in her own eyes and mouthed, "I'm so sorry!"

He wasn't sure what she wanted him to do, so he shook her hand like he'd done Angel's, wiping away his own tears with the back of his other hand. With a look of relief, Yesmina smiled sadly, hugging DeWard and swinging him at the same time.

DeWard for his part glared at Severus and then buried his head on Yesmina's shoulder. He didn't know why he did it, but Severus rubbed DeWard's back and said, "I'm sorry that I yelled, DeWard..."

DeWard turned and looked at him and Severus had the distinct impression that the little boy was going to keep an eye on him to make sure that Severus behaved himself.

For some reason Severus found that funny and he chuckled, the first time he had laughed in a long time.

"You should do that more often," Yesmina said softly. "It becomes you..."

Yesmina could be really scary at times, Severus thought to himself.

"You got any other shirts?" Angel interrupted, holding up Severus' smock shirt that had been in his duffle bag, which was now on the floor with what few possessions he had scattered about.

Severus normally would have been insulted by this invasion of his privacy, but he kept his temper in check. At least Angel hadn't pulled out the spare knickers he'd been given on board ship.

Yesmina turned around at that moment as if she suspected that Angel just might do that next.

"No," Severus answered, expecting someone to make an insulting comment about the smock. Muggles like Lily's sister always did.

"Just the one I'm wearing," Severus added. "They gave it to me on the ship."

"What ship?" Angel asked.

"The one that brought me here," Severus answered. He hoped that they wouldn't press him on how he had gotten onto the ship.

"You stowed away on a _ship_!?" Angel exclaimed. "Far out! Was wondering how y'got here, thought maybe your parents just dumped ya or sumthin'..."

Angel tossed the smock onto the mattress.

"Nice top, but it'll make ya look too much like a hippie..."

"It's pretty," Yesmina added.

Angel looked at Severus critically.

"The one y'have on looks like ya've been wearing it for a week..."

Severus looked down at himself; he didn't think he looked bad, but Muggles always seemed to have a different standard.

"And quite frankly, amigo, ya sorta smell like it too..." Angel added. He pulled Severus' original pants out of the duffle bag and sniffed them. "These smell like they've been washed, they'll do..."

He tossed the jeans onto the mattress, stood up, and sniffed Severus' coat.

"This ain't bad, it'll be OK..."

He picked up Severus' smock and stuffed it back into the duffle bag. Severus heard a dresser drawer open behind him.

He turned to see that Yesmina had put DeWard down and was looking through the top drawer. She pulled out a plain black tee shirt and a white dress shirt, and then turned around, holding then up in each hand.

"Which one do you think, Angel?"

Angel looked from one to the other, and then pointed to the dress shirt. "Try that one."

He looked at Severus, who realized that Angel meant for him to put it on.

However, to do that he'd have to take off the shirt he was wearing. Severus undid one button, but was upset when Yesmina didn't move.

"What's wrong?" Angel asked when Severus just stood there with one hand on the next button, not moving.

Severus looked at Angel with raised eyebrows and cocked his head toward Yesmina.

"It's OK for girls to see boys without shirts on!" Angel exclaimed. But Severus just looked at him, mortified, and didn't move.

"Haven't you ever gone swimming?" Angel demanded. Severus still didn't move.

"No," he mumbled.

"OK, Yesmina," Angel laughed, "turn around will ya? Sev's savin' it for Lily!"

"Don't make fun of him, Angel!" Yesmina admonished, but she turned around and held the white shirt over her shoulder for him to take. She only turned around when Severus had changed and she heard Angel laughing.

The cuffs hung a good three inches below the tips of his fingers, and the shirttails almost reached his ankles.

Yesmina stifled a laugh. Even Severus had a sheepish grin.

"It's a little big," he observed. Angel laughed harder.

"Ya _think_?" he guffawed. Even DeWard was chortling.

"Severus wears dress!" he squealed, clapping his hands.

"Whose shirt is this?" Severus asked. It was obviously too big to be Angel's.

"Who knows?" Angel answered. "I guess they keep the best clothes of kids who get sent here..."

Yesmina had walked up to Severus and started playing at the sleeves.

"Do you think we could make it work?" she asked. "He could tuck it into his pants, and if he wore his coat he could roll up the sleeves of the shirt..."

Angel just laughed harder.

"Mina! Tuck _that_ in!? It's down to his _feet_! And besides, it's supposed to get really warm today, he won't want to be wearing that coat all day! Try the other one..."

Yesmina handed the black tee shirt to Severus and discreetly turned around again.

"Why is it so important that I wear a new shirt?" he asked, taking off the first shirt.

"Cuz y'gotta look respectable if y'want t'get as much money today as possible."

Severus had just gotten his head through the opening of the tee shirt, but stopped and stared at Angel.

"I didn't expect to get _any_ money today!" he stated suspiciously, finishing pulling the shirt on.

"That looks a lot better," Angel stated.

Yesmina turned around to look. The tee shirt was a much better fit, only a fraction too big.

"Not quite Sunday-go-to-meetin', but it'll do," Angel said, standing up.

"What did you mean before?" Severus demanded. Angel smirked sarcastically, and patted Severus on the back.

"No rest for the wicked, 'specially on Sunday," he answered cryptically. "You're coming to work with us..."

He pulled the shirt off Severus.

"Now you need to take a bath...

Severus had clasped his arms across his chest and turned to look at Yesmina, but she had already diplomatically turned around and was going through another dresser drawer.

"Here," she said, without turning around. She handed what looked to be a small chenille bedspread over her head, but when Angel took it and held it up, it turned out to be a woman's bathrobe in an abysmal shade of bright pink with blue trim and yellow chenille flowers on the bodice.

"I'm not wearing THAT!" Severus objected.

"Hey! It's the only one we have!" Angel explained. "I use it myself, Sev..."

"And he looks very cute in it, too!" Yesmina laughed.

Severus did not find that a convincing argument, but since Yesmina continued to keep her back to him, he put the robe on. The sleeves were a little long, and it just touched the ground.

"Here!" Angel chuckled, rolling up both of the sleeves. "Take off your socks and shoes..."

Severus sat down and pulled off his left shoe and sock, causing a cascade of money to fall on the floor. He'd forgotten about the American money that Frank Masek had given him.

"Whoa!" Angel shouted, scooping up the bills. "Where'd you get _this_!?"

"The man on the boat gave it to me," Severus answered as he removed his other shoe and sock, resulting in another cascade of money.

"There's more?" Angel asked, scooping up the second windfall and starting to count it.

"Yeah..."Severus answered. "There's some in my coat, and in the lining of the bag..." He didn't care about the money; it was not only Muggle money, but also American Muggle money, and he was going home in a day or two so it'd be worthless to him.

Angel stopped and stared at Severus with an opened mouth.

"What _is_ it?" Yesmina demanded, still politely facing away.

Angel went to Severus' coat and searched it, retrieving two more rolls of bills. He also found the money that was hidden in the duffle bag.

Severus couldn't decipher the look Angel gave him as he started to count the money. When he finished, he looked critically at Severus.

"What did you have to do?" he asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Severus demanded.

"Why did that man give you all this!?" Angel shouted. "What did you _do_?"

"What _is_ it, Angel?" Yesmina demanded, turning around, curiosity getting the better of her.

Angel gave Yesmina a serious look.

"Look at this, Mina!" he said. Yesmina came over, took some of the bills, and splayed them out, a look of astonishment on her face.

"There's almost _eighty dollars_!" Angel told her. Yesmina stopped playing with the money and looked up at Angel.

They both then turned to stare at Severus, Yesmina with a look of pity, but Angel with a severe, accusatory look.

"What!?" Severus demanded. He was beginning to get very annoyed.

"Oh Sev, what did he make you do?" Yesmina pleaded, tears forming in her eyes. Angel folded his arms, money in each fist.

"What do you mean?" Severus asked, confused. "He had me sweep the decks and stack some boxes and I had to wash and dry dishes..."

Angel made a snorting sound, and one side of his mouth twitched up.

"Did you _steal_ this from him?" Angel demanded, to which Severus stood up, his right hand balled into a fist.

"I am _not_ a thief! You take that back!"

Angel threw the money into Severus' face.

"It'd be _okay_ if you _stole_ it, you...you...!"

"_WHAT_!?" Severus shouted.

Yesmina stepped between them before the situation could worsen.

"Severus, it's okay...you can tell us the truth," she told him, reaching out and taking his fist into her hand. "It's happened to both of us too, Angel and me...it's not just you..."

Severus stepped back, yanking his hand out of Yesmina's.

"I have absolutely _no_ idea what you are talking about!"

Yesmina and Angel stared at him, then at each other. Angel then shrugged and turned away.

Severus wasn't sure how he knew -- he'd experienced it a few times before -- but somehow he knew that something bad had been done to both Yesmina and Angel. He didn't know what had been done to them, but they thought that the same thing had happened to him.

This knowledge only made Severus more confused, and also a little resentful that knowing that meant he couldn't stay mad at them.

"Go take your bath, Sev," Yesmina said gently, turning to Angel and putting her hand on his shoulder.

Severus was confused, but these two had been making him confused all along, and he'd rather be alone than fighting with them, so he left the room without a word and crossed the hall into the bathroom.

He ran warm water into the tub; he'd have liked to have filled it to the top and just lose himself in the warm soapy water, but he wasn't sure if the Sarmientos were as strict as his father was when it came to water usage, so as he had learned back home, he only filled the tub one-third full.. Nevertheless, he did indulge himself with some bubble bath he found on the edge of the tub.

He neatly folded his clothes on the closed toilet lid, making sure the most embarrassing piece was hidden in the folds of his pants, over which he folded the chenille robe.

He'd relaxed in the warm water -- at least the Sarmientos had hot water. But he'd just begun to enjoy his privacy when a soft knock came on the door.

He quickly yanked the shower curtain shut as the door opened a crack.

"Sev?" Yesmina tentatively asked.

"_What_!?" Severus demanded exasperatedly, leaning forward and stretching both arms to hold both sides of the shower curtain shut.

"I just wanted to bring you your clean clothes," she answered.

Before Severus could say anything, he heard the door open and Yesmina switch out his dirty clothes for the clean ones. He was mortified. Had she seen his...?

As if reading his mind, Yesmina stated, "Angel put your clean clothes together, I'll give him your others to put in your bag..."

And with that, she was back out of the door. Severus peeked out from behind the curtain. He could see pants and the tee shirt folded on top of the robe, he was grateful that Angel seemed to have hidden the...

He had just leaned back in the tub and started relaxing when another knock came at the door.

"Sev?"

It was Yesmina again. Severus again held both sides of the curtain shut as she came in.

"I'm sorry, but DeWard has to go..."

What could Severus say?

"I'll be careful with your clothes," she said, and Severus could hear her apparently moving them from the toilet lid to the floor in front of the sink.

Why couldn't Angel have taken care of DeWard? Yesmina was going to see what he didn't want her to see if she kept messing with his clothes.

She heard her whispering to DeWard as she lifted the toilet lid and put something on it before lifting DeWard onto it. She then said something in a singsong to DeWard, but so quietly, Severus couldn't make out what she was saying or singing.

Whatever it was seemed to delight DeWard, who kept giggling and laughing. Severus then heard Yesmina whisper, "Hurry up, DeWard!", but DeWard seemed to have decided on his own timetable.

"I'm sorry, Sev, sometimes he takes awhile..."

Severus still couldn't think of anything to say, and quite frankly didn't feel in the mood for conversation anyway.

But he did let go of the shower curtain, grabbed a bar of soap, and started using it. He figured that with all the interruptions, he better get the bath over with as soon as possible.

"Here," he heard Yesmina say, and suddenly her hand stuck past the shower curtain holding a bottle with amber liquid in it.

Severus scooted to the far end of the tub and tried to cover himself with what bubbles were left.

"Here!" Yesmina repeated, shaking her hand with the bottle.

"What's that!?" Severus demanded.

"Shampoo," Yesmina said. "You know, to wash your hair!"

"I _know_ what shampoo is!" Severus retorted. Here it was again. Insults about his greasy hair.

"It's really nice, I use it too, it smells nice," Yesmina explained, shaking the bottle again indicating she expected Severus to take the bottle.

He carefully moved over, checking to see that she wasn't looking through the curtain, and grabbed the bottle from her.

He wondered how the best way to go about it...there wasn't enough water in the tub to slip down into it to wet his hair. He could turn on the tap and hold his head under it, but that would leave him rather, uh, exposed, and he still didn't trust Yesmina to just yank the curtain aside to give him either another toiletry item or just some advice.

"You should use the shower," Yesmina advised, not having to pull the shower curtain aside to do so.

"The what?" Severus asked, scooping water up with his hands and wetting his hair with it.

"The shower," Yesmina repeated. "To rinse off. And wash your hair."

Severus paused as he was working the shampoo into his hair.

"What's that?" he finally asked.

It was Yesmina's turn to pause.

"You don't know what a shower is?" she finally asked.

"If I knew I wouldn't have asked!" Severus replied indignantly.

"Look up," Yesmina told him, and he did. "See that thing sticking out of the wall?"

"The metal thing with holes in it?"

"That's the shower. When you drain the tub, just turn on the warm water again, and see that handle just over the faucet?"

"The what?"

"The faucet. Where the water comes out."

"You mean the tap?"

"Whatever _you_ call it, it's where the water comes out!"

For the first time Yesmina started to sound annoyed, and Severus was equally annoyed that it bothered him that he had caused her to be annoyed.

"So what am I supposed to do with the handle?"

"Just turn it to the left when you have the water running, and it will turn the shower on. Turn it back to turn the shower off...don't you have showers in England?"

"Not at my house," Severus answered. "We just have a bathtub."

At that moment, DeWard chortled and gleefully gibbered something in unknown toddler language. This was immediately followed by a distinctly pungent smell filling the room.

"Oh, DeWard!" Yesmina mumbled as she flushed the toilet, but DeWard was singularly delighted with himself.

"Sorry about that, Severus!" Yesmina half laughed. "Let me get him cleaned up and out of here..."

Severus opened the drain on the tub, because he couldn't wait to get out of the bathroom as quickly as possible too.

"Oh!" Yesmina added. "You can use the blow dryer on your hair..."

Severus paused. "What's that?" he asked.

"The blow dryer...by the sink. Hanging on the wall by the mirror. It's metal with a wooden handle?"

Severus had no idea what she was talking about, and without thinking he stuck his head out from behind the shower curtain.

Yesmina was putting training pants on DeWard, turned to look at him, and couldn't help but smile when she saw his soapy head.

"That's the blow dryer," she said softly, pointing to a device hanging as she had said, on the wall next to the sink by the mirror.

"Oh," Severus answered. He'd have asked her how it worked, but he suddenly realized his position and quickly ducked behind the curtain again.

He started to run the warm water again, when he heard Yesmina say "You can open the window when you get out to get some fresh air. I didn't want to do it because I didn't want you to get a chill."

Then he heard the bathroom door open, but before he heard it close, Yesmina said, "It's okay whatever may have happened before, Sev...we look out for each other now. We make sure no one hurts one of us. Even though you're going home in a couple of days, you should know that. That Angel and me will make sure nobody hurts you while you're here..."

Severus wasn't sure if her voice was cracking at the end, but he heard the door close before he could say anything.

He just stood there, stunned. These were strange Muggle kids. Most of the time he had no idea what they were talking about. However, it was clear from what Yesmina had just said that they were looking out for him, that they even seemed to..._care_ for him? It gave him a strange feeling...

A chill shook him out of his reverie. He turned on the shower, and was amazed at the feeling of the cascading water. He rinsed his hair and shampooed a second time, just to have an excuse to stay under the shower longer. He didn't even notice DeWard's prior presence any longer.

Finally, he turned off the shower, and peeked out of the shower curtain to make sure he was truly alone. Yesmina had restored his clothes to the top of the closed toilet seat.

He quickly dried himself and put on his clean clothes. After cracking the bathroom window open, he then took the thing called a blow dryer off of it's hook on the wall. He held it by it's wooden handle, turning it around in his hand, trying to figure out what to do with it.

He finally saw a switch on the underside saying "Off" and "On". He moved the switch to the "On" position, and the thing came to life with a roar, surprising him so that he almost dropped it.

He pointed it at his face and got a blast of hot air. The thing also stank like an old floo grate. It rather scared him. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do with it, but she had called it a blow dryer, and it was definitely blowing.

Therefore, he surmised that what was supposed to be dried was his hair, so he pointed the thing at his head.

He was relieved that it didn't set fire to his hair, and actually was amused at the way it blew his hair all around. He wondered if this was what it might feel like to speed your broom through a hot desert...

In a short while, his hair was dry. He turned the blow dryer off and hung it back up. He turned back to the mirror...he'd never really cared about how he looked before, but he had to admit that he really liked how his hair looked now. When he got back home, he'd have to tell Mum about this funny Muggle device.

And about these funny Muggle kids...he picked up the bathrobe and braced himself for what he might encounter when he returned to the bedroom.

But Angel had changed both his clothes and his mood; he slapped Severus on the back, stating, "Looking good amigo! Now put your socks and shoes on, and lets go get some breakfast!"

Yesmina took the robe from Severus, and put it back into the dresser. She had also changed, wearing pink pants with a daisy at the hem of one leg, and a matching top in white with pink trim, and a daisy at the shoulder. On her feet, she wore white sneakers, and she was carrying a floppy straw hat and a pair of sunglasses.

Severus sat down on the mattress and picked up his socks and shoes. The money that had fallen out had been put back in. He paused, and looked up at Angel.

"We put it all back," he said with an expressionless face. "It's yours. But don't let _them_..."

He cocked his head toward the bedroom door.

",,,find it, or they'll take it."

"You can have it!" Severus exclaimed. "I don't need it or want it! I'll be going home in a few days, I can't use it there...you take it."

Angel paused. Severus couldn't decipher his sphinx-like expression.

"Thank you, amigo," Angel finally answered. "But you keep it for now."

Severus shrugged and put on is socks and shoes. Grabbing his coat and duffel bag, they all then went out to the kitchen, where Mrs. Sarmiento inspected each one of them with a critical eye, before deciding that they all passed muster.

"Took you long enough," she said, tossing bowls on the table along with a box of cereal and some milk. Yesmina got spoons out of a drawer as Angel stared pouring out cereal into the bowls.

"Ya only have a few minutes before ya need to get the bus on time..."

Severus poured some milk over his cereal as he decided that he didn't like this Mrs. Sarmiento. He ate quickly just so no one could blame him for being late for whatever it was they were going to be doing.

DeWard, though, seemed to be more interested in playing with the cereal than eating it. Yesmina did manage to get him to drink some juice and milk before Mrs. Sarmiento announced that they had to leave.

Severus was surprised that Mrs. Sarmiento didn't join them, nor did Luis, who was sprawled out on the living room couch, snoring loudly.

They took the elevator down to the ground floor. Severus debated whether he should press them about where they were going and what they were going to be doing, but decided to wait for a better time...if it ever presented itself.

As they left the building, sitting on a bike rack a short way from the door was the girl who'd ridden on the elevator with Severus the evening before.

She was wearing a lime green shift with large white buttons on the front, white boots, and a multicolored scarf as a headband. A large gold cross hung from an impossibly large chain around her neck, and slightly smaller crosses hung from her ears. She was looking in a mirror and putting something on her lips, before putting both items back into the white shoulder bag that she carried.

As they got closer, Severus could see that she had something on her eyelids that matched the color of her dress, and her lips were impossibly wet.

She was still one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen. He'd have to find out how she kept her lips so wet, and tell Lily about it when he got back.

At the thought of Lily his hand went to his breast pocket...yes, it was still there, still slowly opening and closing.

"About time y'all got here!" the girl exclaimed, standing up and straightening her purse on her shoulder. Her voice was strangely deep, and Severus had never heard such an accent.

"Hola, Azalea!" Angel said in a bored manner, putting the accent on the third syllable of the girl's name, which to Severus made it sound exotic and beautiful.

"Hello, English boy!" Azalea said, looking at Severus.

"Let's get goin'!" Angel stated, not stopping as they reached Azalea. She just shrugged and fell in stride with the group.

She left a trail of some scent that intoxicated Severus. He'd have to also find out what that was and tell Lily to use it.

They reached what they told Severus (unnecessarily) was a bus stop. He'd seen bus stops around his hometown before.

He'd never _ridden_ a bus, to be sure; but he knew what a bus stop was.

They waited a few minutes, strangely not talking. DeWard was happy playing with a stuffed animal they'd brought along for him, but Severus wondered why Angel and Yesmina, usually so annoyingly talkative, suddenly had gone silent.

Not that Severus minded, although he did wish that Azalea would speak to him again.

Perhaps, as it suddenly dawned on him, to tell him how she knew he was English.

However, the bus arrived at that moment, and they got on, Angel putting some coins in a box at the entrance. At that time on a Sunday morning, there were few other riders, and the children made their way halfway to the back and took some seats that faced each other.

Yesmina held DeWard on her lap by the window, as the little boy insisted on looking out of it. Severus sat opposite her with Angel next to him. Azalea sat next to Yesmina and stared at Severus.

The bus reversed a good part of the route Severus had taken the evening before with Mrs. Williams.

Except for Yesmina playing with DeWard, no one said anything for some minutes. Finally, Severus could stand it no longer.

"Will someone _please_ tell me what we're going to be doing?"

Azalea laughed. Severus could have lived in that laugh forever, even if it was laughter at his expense.

"We goyne workda church ladies, chile!" she laughed. "Goo' Chrishun fo'k what feel sorry fo' po' los' chillun!"

Severus looked at her blankly. Angel grimaced. Yesmina looked from Severus to Angel to Azalea.

"He can't understand what you're saying, Azalea," she stated.

"Oh," Azalea answered. "Guess that country talk I get from Granny's a li'l hard for you Yankees t'understand..."

She turned back to Severus and stated, "We are going to be working the church ladies today. They are good Christian folk who always feel sorry for poor, lost children."

She laughed again. Severus blinked, still not understanding what she was talking about, but not wanting her to stop talking and laughing.

An elderly woman sitting across the way gave them a look of disdain and turned toward the window in a huff.

"He still don't understand," Angel said. He turned to Severus. "Listen, what we do is, like, pretend. We pretend we're lost, we go up to people and tell them we're lost, or we got separated from our parents, and we just need some money to get back home. For the subway. Or taxi. And most times people give us money..."

Severus just stared at Angel blankly.

"And then what?"

"And then you do it again."

"Why?"

"To get more money!"

"Why, if you just got money?"

"To get even more, you big dummy!"

Severus felt his face getting hot. He wanted to hit Angel.

"Don't call me that!"

"Angel!" Yesmina interrupted. "Don't call him names. He doesn't know! He's never done anything like this before..."

"Oh, a _virgin_!" Azalea exclaimed, laughing, but she was the only one who seemed to think it funny. Severus was just too confused to understand, Yesmina looked uncomfortable, and Angel looked like he was ready to punch someone.

"Listen," Angel started again, "we just continue pretending with different people so that we can make as much money as possible as quickly as possible..."

"So...so you _lie_ to people," Severus answered, it slowly dawning on him just what Angel was talking about.

"Well, yeah...sorta..." Angel said cautiously, expecting Severus to object. But Severus sat back and thought. He actually had no objections to lying to Muggles, and the more he thought about it, if the Muggles were stupid enough to believe the lie and hand over the money, who cared?

"In your case, though, English Boy," Azalea said smoothly, "you won't have to lie. You really _are_ lost!" She thought this hilarious, and rollicked with laughter.

"My name is Severus," he told her, although he wasn't really mad at her. He just wanted to hear her say his name.

Azalea obliged by letting the word "Severus" roll about her mouth and off of her tongue. She then asked, "You have a nickname?"

"No," Severus answered. "Sometimes people call me just 'Sev'..."

"Ssseevvv..." Azalea drawled out, as if the word was a delicious piece of chocolate melting in her mouth...

At that moment, the bus stopped, and the three American children got up, Yesmina still carrying DeWard. Severus followed them off the bus and followed them a short distance to a platform next to some tracks. Graffiti was sprayed everywhere the eye could see.

"Where are we going now?" Severus whispered to Yesmina.

"Subway," she answered, not knowing that for Severus this was no answer at all. It looked like an ordinary train station to him, he had no idea what 'subway' meant.

Soon a train pulled into the station, almost camouflaged by all the graffiti sprayed on it. The children got on and Severus followed them again as they walked from one car to another before Angel finally decided on one to stop at.

The train was a little more crowded than the bus, with a wider variety of passengers.

Severus had never ridden a train, and he was excited in spite of himself. He sat next to a grimy window and tried to watch the scenery through the scrawls painted on it.

But suddenly everything went black outside; Severus was so surprised (and not a little frightened) he jumped back from the window. He heard Azalea laugh again, but it was Yesmina who said, "We're on the subway, Severus. We're underground now."

Severus was amazed. A train that went underground. He tried peering out the window again, but except for an occasional electric light that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, he couldn't see anything.

He'd have to ask Mum when he got home if she knew that Muggles could make trains go underground.

They rode for sometime, Azalea pressing Severus to tell her about what it was like in England. This made Severus uncomfortable, because there was little to tell them that he felt he could tell them. There was just so much he could say about his school and where he lived and what his father did for a living. They were surprised to learn that the Snape family did not own a television or a car.

Severus could tell that they were beginning to believe that he lived in a very backward country. So he decided to turn the tables and start asking questions of them.

Yesmina Torres was nine, the same age as Severus. She was originally from a place called New Jersey. She didn't know who her father was. She'd been raised by her mother until she was six, then put into foster care because her mother was addicted to something called heroin.

Angel Olivera was ten years old. His parents were divorced, and he'd spent most of his life being moved from one relative to another. All he would say was he was now in foster care because of "stuff" adults around him had done. It was clear he didn't want to talk about it and Severus didn't press him.

Azalea Wanetta was twelve years old. She was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, and her parents were divorced. She had spent some time with her mother in Tupelo, Mississippi, and some time with her father in Mexico, Missouri. She wasn't a foster child, rather she was currently staying with a great-aunt who lived in Co-Op City.

No one was quite sure what DeWard's story was, other than his last name was Emmett, and that he had just turned five years old. Yesmina said that sometimes he called out for "Mama," especially in his sleep, and sometimes he called for someone with a name that sounded like "Shawna" or "Deshonna". Sometimes he called Yesmina that name.

Severus was somewhat depressed after hearing these sad stories, but on the other hand, he was glad that they had stopped pressing him for details about his own life.

The train pulled into a station, and Severus heard an announcement that they were at one-hundred something street. Azalea stood up and Yesmina handed DeWard to her.

"Time to go to work, my man!" Azalea told him, giving him a hug and stepping into the aisle. She turned back to the others. "Are we meeting at the usual place?"

Angel nodded, adding, "Usual time."

Azalea nodded and stepped out of the subway car with a gleeful DeWard. The door shut behind her, and shortly afterwards the subway started to move again.

"Okay, now here's the game plan," Angel announced, leaning forward like a football player planning the next move.

"We're going midtown first, then we'll go back uptown and finish at the college."

Severus had long ago decided that he just wasn't going to understand what these people were talking about, and would just go along with whatever they decided.

They got out at what Angel had called 'midtown', and worked a couple of locations. First Angel had Severus stand far enough away from them so that it didn't seem he was with them, but close enough so that he could hear what was said. Then Angel and Yesmina each took turns approaching strangers with some tale of woe.

A good many people ignored them, an equally good number swore at them...but a surprising number gave up a fair amount of money to help the poor children.

Once Angel had determined that Severus understood how what Angel had told him was called "panhandling" was done, Angel then went off to the side and Yesmina and Severus took turns approaching strangers.

Surprisingly, Severus seemed to have a real knack for this panhandling business. Muggles were so stupid, he thought. If he'd known how easy it was to get money out of them, he'd have done this at home long ago. It wouldn't necessarily work in Spinner's End where too many people knew him and too many people were out of work...

However, he bet he could make out well in a big city like London. He wouldn't have to get used robes or books for when he went to Hogwarts in a couple of years, he could get enough money to buy all new supplies. And help out Mum.

And buy nice things for Lily...

Maybe even his father would finally be proud of him.

By midday, Angel announced that they had done so well that they could indulge themselves with a break for some lunch before heading back uptown. They asked Severus what he'd like to have, and he said he'd like some more pizza, so they headed to the nearest Sbarros.

By the time they finished it was midafternoon, and it was getting very warm. Severus stuffed his coat in his duffle bag, Yesmina made sure she had on her sunglasses and that her hat shaded her face.

They took the subway to the lower 100s; when they got out on the street Severus saw what he thought were beautiful buildings with small parks placed amongst them.

Angel said that they wanted to get as near or onto something called "the campus" as possible, and to look especially for "hippies" to play. He indicated that these people often didn't have much money, but they always felt sorry for lost children and would give them money. If they were lucky, there'd be a lot of them with a little money they'd gladly give to them.

It seemed peaceful enough where they were walking, and indeed a few students were laying out on the grassy areas either reading or just resting.

However, they heard a noise a couple of blocks away. Severus didn't know what it was, but noticed that both Angel and Yesmina looked nervous.

As they got nearer to their destination, the noise got louder. Someone was yelling into what Angel explained was a "bull horn", but Severus couldn't understand how some male bovine horn could amplify sound that way, unless it was by magick.

They turned a corner and saw a mass of people gathered on what Yesmina and Angel indicated as "the campus"; the crowd was so large those on the fringes were almost out to the sidewalk.

The three children stopped to watch and listen. Yesmina and Angel seemed to understand what was being shouted, Severus had no idea what was being said other than something about the rights of poor people being trampled and they should stop some war now and hell no, they won't go, and free someone or other, and someone called Nixon was called a lot of curse words.

But when Angel told Severus that these people were "a bunch of hippies", Severus started paying closer attention to the people, if not what they were saying.

While they were a pretty colorful bunch for the most part, it was obvious that a good many had not taken a bath or washed their colorful clothes in some time. Neither had many washed their hair, as most had long, stringy hair. Severus even saw a few smocks much like his own.

He was amazed. They were all Muggles. But for the first time that he could remember in his life, he didn't feel out of place.

His father had implied that he was a hippie; he hadn't known at the time what that meant. Now he did. He knew _he_ was a hippie.

Moreover, even though he was thousands of miles from the house he'd known all his life, from his Mum, from Lily whom he loved...

He was home. Here. Amongst Muggles. Not a wizard or witch or even an owl in sight.

Angel chuckled and made a snide comment about the "illegal smoke" that was enveloping the site...Severus looked and both his eyes and nose noticed for the first time the haze and acrid smell in the air.

But before he could ask what it was, another artificially loud voice was shouting from behind them. Something about loitering and blocking the sidewalks.

They turned and saw a line of men in dark uniforms with clear shields held in front of them.. One of these men was the one shouting into a bullhorn.

"Jeezus!" Angel exclaimed, grabbing Severus by the hand. "It's the pigs, let's get outta here!"

They had no sooner started to run when the line of what Angel had called "pigs" (although Severus could see no porcine features on any one of them) started to move forward in unison.

They had to run back into the crowd to avoid the uniformed men. Yesmina grabbed onto Angel's belt so that they wouldn't be separated. Some of the hippies started to run away, some turned and started shouting at the pigs, then Severus saw objects being thrown at the pigs.

The pigs in turn threw things, Severus wasn't sure what it was but they had a big machine to throw it with and whatever it was made much more smoke than the smoke the hippies had had, and the pig smoke didn't give him happy thoughts but made his eyes water.

They managed to get back out on a street -- Angel seemed to know where he was going -- but Severus heard rocks crashing onto the road and bottles breaking all around them.

It seemed that no matter where they went the hippies followed, chased by the pigs.

"_RUN_!" Angel shouted as soon as they saw an opening, and he let go of Severus' hand and started to sprint down the street. Yesmina and Severus followed, but Yesmina then tripped and fell, cutting her arm on a piece of broken glass.

Severus had never seen anyone bleed so much so quickly...but he was impressed that Yesmina didn't cry. She just looked up at him sadly and said, "I'm a bleeder..."

Severus didn't bother asking her what exactly that meant. He opened up his duffle bag and grabbed the first thing he found, the shirt that had been given to him on the ship. He then wrapped it around Yesmina's arm.

Angel had come back by that point, looking ashen-faced when he saw Yesmina's injury. He helped her to stand up and said, "We gotta get out of here!"

That was obvious, as they were now in the middle of a general melee. But they managed to make it to the fringes of the fracas, and then turned the corner to where a city bus was just pulling to a bus stop.

They sprinted to the bus as the melee behind them turned the corner. They just made it onto the bus before the driver pulled away in a panic.

They moved toward the back of the bus; perhaps due to the disturbance they'd just left, there were only a few hippies on the bus.

Angel was looking at Yesmina's arm with concern, and then he looked up at Severus.

"She has a hard time stopping bleeding," he stated, and it sounded like he was close to crying.

Severus took his shirt off Yesmina's arm; the actual cut wasn't too bad, but indeed, it wouldn't stop bleeding.

He'd watch his mother fix his cuts and scrapes many times using magick...could he do it too?

He held her arm and softly repeated the words he'd heard his Mum say many times; he came to the end and just repeated the charm. Gradually the blood stopped gushing and coagulated; he repeated the charm and it turned into a scab; one more time and the scab fell off, leaving pink fresh tissue where it had been.

Severus let go of Yesmina's arm and looked at her and Angel. Angel's mouth was open, Yesmina just looked at Severus cryptically.

"How did you _do_ that?" Angel whispered.

"It's just something we do back home," Severus answered. It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the full truth.

"Thank you, Severus," Yesmina said, tears forming in her eyes for the first time. She leaned over and kissed Severus on the cheek.

"It's nothing," Severus mumbled, starting to blush.

"Look!" Yesmina exclaimed, pointing out the window.

The bus was slowing for it's next stop, and running up the sidewalk was Azalea with a decidedly unhappy DeWard in her arms. She stumbled onto the bus but had trouble trying to find the fare in her purse and handle DeWard at the same time.

Angel rushed forward.

"I've got it!" he shouted, fishing a token out of his pocket and putting it in the coin slot. Azalea put DeWard down and hugged Angel as the driver closed the door and pulled away from the bus stop.

DeWard just stood where he was placed, wailing. Yesmina leaned into the aisle and called to him.

"Meenie!" DeWard wailed, stumbling down the aisle to her. Yesmina scooped him up and it was hard to say who hugged whom the hardest. DeWard continued to cry, and attempted to explain his tail of woe in an unintelligible wail. Yesmina just continue to hug and rock him.

"What the fuck!?" Azalea swore, stumbling up the aisle leaning on Angel. "What the _fuck_!?"

Normally Severus would have been embarrassed, if not offended, that she was cursing in front of a child of DeWard's age.

But after what had happened in the past hour, he sort of felt like saying it himself.

Azalea collapsed onto a seat, then looked at the blood on Yesmina's clothes and the shirt Severus had used.

"What the hell, bloody _fuck_!?" she screamed. Severus was beginning to wonder if perhaps she had sustained some sort of head injury, and that was all she could now say.

"We just gotta get home, that's all," Angel announced, to which Azalea answered "Bloody fuck _hell_ we do!"

Angel and Yesmina looked at her as if they expected her to say something sensible. Severus just expected her to swear some more. DeWard just screamed louder.

"There's no fuckin' way _back_ home! Not now!" Azalea gasped, still trying to catch her breath. "Nothin's runnin' above 168th, no subway, no buses!"

"But...but..," Angel sputtered. Severus had never seen him at a loss for words before.

"But if we get back down to midtown..." he stated. "There'll be buses back to the Bronx..."

"They all go uptown to get there, Angel!" Azalea exclaimed. "I tell you, they shut them down just now for the rest of the day cuz of the riot Same with the subway! Believe me, I tried!"

Azalea continued to gasp for breath. Angel and Yesmina just looked at each other, not saying a word. DeWard had his face pressed into Yesmina's shoulder, moaning.

Only Severus smiled.

They all looked at him as if he was crazy.

"What's so funny?" Azalea demanded.

"I guess I'm not the only one who can't get home now," he answered.

They all sat back in their seats, not knowing where they were going, and listened to the radio on the audio system playing:

_No, you can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
And if you try sometime you find  
You get what you need..._

* * *

_I saw her today at a reception  
A glass of wine in her hand  
I knew she would meet her connection  
At her feet was a footloose man _

No, you can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
And if you try sometime you find  
You get what you need

Oh yea-ah (hey-hey-hey, ooh)

And I went down to the demonstration  
To get my fair share of abuse  
Singin' "We're gonna vent our frustration  
If we don't, we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse"  
Sing it to me now

You can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
And if you try sometime you find  
You get what you need

ooh baby, yeah, ooh

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore  
To get your prescription filled  
I was standin' in line with Mr. Jimmy  
A-man, did he look pretty ill

We decided that we would have a soda  
My favorite flavor, Cherry Red  
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy  
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was 'dead'  
I said to him

You can't always get what you want  
(Well no!)  
You can't always get what you want  
(Tell ya baby)  
You can't always get what you want (no)  
But if you try sometimes you just might find  
Mmm! Mmm!  
You get what you need  
ooh yes! woo!

I saw her today at the reception  
In her glass was a bleeding man  
She was practicing at the art of deception  
Well, I could tell by her bloodstained hands  
Say it!

You can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
And if you try sometime you find  
You get what you need

Ooh yeah!  
Ooh baby!  
Woo!

Ah, no you can't always get what you want  
No, no baby

You can't always get what you want  
Tellin' you right now

You can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
You can't always get what you want  
And if you try sometime you find  
You get what you need

Oooow-ooh!  
Oooow-ooh!  
Oooow-ooh!

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT  
The Rolling Stones  
1969


	5. Chapter 3 I Had A Dream

"We gotta get back somehow!"

"I told you there's no way!"

"We can take a taxi..."

"No cab's goin' that way, there's a damn riot goin' on, we'd have t'spend all the money we made!"

"Maybe not..."

Angel and Azalea were walking together, arguing. Yesmina was behind them, schlepping a decidedly tired and grumpy DeWard, made all the grumpier by the earlier loss of his toy. Severus trailed behind.

They were walking in something they'd told him was called Central Park. Severus had been barely paying attention to the argument; instead, he was admiring the park and was amazed that an almost rural place was in the middle of a big city.

However, he didn't miss Angel's glance back at him, or the fact that Azalea stopped walking and turned from Angel to stare at Severus.

"I _told_ you that you could have it," Severus stated somewhat defensively.

"What?!" Azalea demanded.

"The money I have," Severus answered.

"What money?" Azalea asked, lowering her voice and taking a step closer to Severus.

"The American money the man gave me on the boat that brought me here!" Severus answered, somewhat loudly. "I won't need it! Angel said it's what? Eighty dollars?"

"Shhhh!" Angel almost shouted, looking from left to right and using his hands to indicate that Severus should lower his voice.

"What?!" Severus responded.

"Keep your voice down, asshole!" Angel answered in a hoarse whisper. Severus didn't know whether to be angry or afraid. He decided on anger and started to ball up his fists.

"Sev," Yesmina pleaded, "you have to be careful...you could get mugged..."

Severus didn't know what "mugged" meant, but it sounded too much like "Muggle".

"Attacked," Angel added, seeing Severus' confused look. "Beaten up. Your money stolen. Geez, you really are stupid!"

Before Severus could punch him, Azalea put her hands on her hips and demanded, "Just _why_ did that man on that boat give you all that money, English Boy!?"

There it was again. What was it about these kids? What did they think he'd done?

"_**I DON'T KNOW!!**_" Severus screamed at them. "_**HE JUST GAVE IT TO ME!!**_ _**TO BE NICE!!**_"

Azalea looked at him with a sneer.

"Yeah, English Boy, I'm sure he was plenty _'nice'_ to you! And you was _plenty_ nice to him in return.."

She turned on her heel and started walking away, but then wheeled around to face him again.

"We all here know how to be '_nice'_, don't we?! We all have lots of experience being _'nice'_ to lots of men!! Me and Angel and Yesmina and even DeWard, he has to be nice to men for money, too!"

Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and she choked on the last few words.

Severus didn't understand exactly what she was talking about, but he knew it was something bad if Azalea was crying about it. Yesmina seemed to cry at the least provocation, and indeed her eyes were wet as she reached a hand to Azalea, who just whirled around and stalked away.

DeWard seemed to have decided that it was time for everyone to cry and started wailing loudly. Even Angel's lip was trembling.

Severus didn't know what to feel. He hated seeing Azalea cry. But he also hated them all for trying to make him feel guilty about something he hadn't done.

"You...you...!!" Severus sputtered. "You damn..._**MUGGLES**_!!"

He grabbed DeWard from Yesmina and stalked off, mumbling a sort of charm his Mum used to say to him when he was little and would cry about something.

Whether it was the charm, or just the novelty of this new, strange boy carrying him, DeWard indeed stopped crying and stared at Severus.

Azalea had stopped and was staring at Severus, but he passed without saying a word to her. He didn't know why he was doing what he was doing, but at least DeWard wasn't crying anymore, no one was yelling at him, and he didn't have to look at Azalea..

Severus couldn't see it, but Azalea, Angel, and Yesmina were just standing, staring at each other. Yesmina looked confused, but the side of Angel's mouth rose, and Azalea grinned as she wiped her eyes and mouthed to the other two, "_Muggos_?"

"Hey!" Angel laughed at Severus' retreating back. "Whatcha call us?"

Severus kept stalking away, mumbling to himself and to DeWard, who seemed to find Severus fascinating.

"Hey! English Boy!" Azalea yelled, catching up with Severus and forcing him to stop and turn around. Severus kept softly singing his chant.

"Whatcha call us?" she laughed. "_Muggos_?"

Still mumbling, Severus was getting quite frustrated, and thought that he might actually be getting a headache.

"Whatcha sayin', English Boy?" Azalea laughed, shoving him on his shoulder.

Severus stopped in mid-phrase.

"_**MUGGLE**_!" he spit out. "_**MUH-GULL!**_ You're all just Muggles!"

Now he thought that he might start crying.

Azalea and Angel looked at each other again, and then burst out laughing. Even Yesmina softly smiled.

"_Muh-gwuh_," DeWard murmured. Since this made Azalea and Angel laugh harder, he said it again.

"Guess that told _us_!" Angel laughed.

Azalea held her side, laughing.

"You...you _muggo_, you!" she screeched at Angel in laughter.

"_You_ Muggo!" Angel retorted, pointing at her.

"_Muh-gwuh_!" DeWard added.

Even Severus at this point was almost smiling. These kids were crazy. They couldn't even take an insult properly.

"What the hell does that mean?" Azalea gasped.

Severus shrugged and sighed at the same time.

"It's just a word," he said.

"But what does it _mean_?" she pressed.. "What makes someone a '_muggo_'?"

"_Muh-gwuh_," DeWard interrupted, hoping everyone would start laughing again.

Severus' mind raced. What was he going to tell them?

"It's just a word my people use..." he began.

"_Your_ people!?" Azalea demanded. Her mood had dramatically shifted. "Just _what_ are '_your_' people?"

Severus paused; he had the distinct feeling that anything he said at this point would get him into trouble.

"_Muh...muh_..." DeWard mumbled, wondering why no one was laughing anymore.

"It's cool," Angel cautioned Azalea. "He didn't mean anything by it..."

However, Azalea would not be placated.

"What's whitey English Boy mean by 'his' people, huh? He too _good_ for the spicks and nigg...?"

"_**HEY**_!" Angel shouted at her. "_**YOU**_ shut up!"

"_Mu...mu...mu_..." DeWard quietly whispered. Severus let him slip to the ground, and Yesmina quickly grabbed him and they both moved a few feet away.

Azalea and Angel were now glaring at each other. Severus suspected that they were about to start hitting each other.

"I am sorry..." Severus interrupted. "'Muggle' is a word we use where I come from to describe outsiders."

It wasn't quite a lie, but the truth would be harder to explain, and Azalea obviously had totally misinterpreted what he'd said.

"See?" Angel stated. "You have a big mouth, Azalea! You should talk! You're too quick to use bad words and call people names yourself!"

"Yeah, but he used that 'muggo' word just like 'spi...'," Azalea started.

"_**SHUT UP**_!" Angel screamed. "You say that word too much, you know!"

Azalea looked crestfallen.

"I don't _call_ you that, I just..."

"Yeah, you complain about others sayin' it, you complain all the time so you end up sayin' it all the time! And how's callin' him 'whitey' any different, huh?"

Angel seemed close to tears.

"You didn't see how he helped us today!" Angel continued. "You didn't see how he helped Yesmina, when she hurt herself and couldn't stop bleeding. So everything's groovy, Azalea, don't start coppin' an attitude. He's cool..."

There was that word "groovy" again. Severus didn't know what "coppin' an attitude" meant other than it apparently was what Azalea had just done. And he figured that "cool" was equivalent to "groovy", and that it was a good thing to be either one.

"Gotta go potty!" DeWard interrupted with impeccable timing. Yesmina was crouched down beside him. Severus thought that she looked like she might cry again.

"Let's find a McDonald's," Angel suggested. "We can use the bathroom and get something to eat."

He walked past Azalea and Severus, leading the way out of the park. Severus thought his face looked wet when he walked past, but perhaps Angel was only sweating because of the heat and humidity.

Yesmina picked up DeWard and trotted after Angel. Azalea and Severus looked at each other.

"After you," she said.

Severus paused.

"No...after _you_..."

He wanted to keep this scary girl in his sight.

They stared at each other for a few seconds more, then Azalea laughed, turned, and followed the others. Severus followed a short space behind.

Azalea was beautiful and she smelled of something faraway and exotic. But she was scary crazy.

After some time Angel lead the way out of the park. They crossed the street without a word and then went down a block and entered a place to eat that said "McDonald's" on it's sign.

Yesmina let DeWard down when they entered the restaurant, and Angel took his hand.. Angel looked at Severus and then jerked his head to the side as Yesmina and Azalea went down a hall in the same direction.

"What?" Severus asked.

"Come _on_!" Angel demanded, turning and going down the hall.

Severus followed and just saw Yesmina and Azalea going through a door farther down the hall.

Severus started to follow them.

"Hey! Where you goin'?" Angel demanded.. He had stopped at the first door in the hallway. Severus looked at the sign on the door and saw that it read "Mens", and had a little stick figure of a man on it.

Severus grinned sheepishly and followed Angel, who stopped just inside the door and looked around the room.

There was a young man at one of the urinals, but no one in any of the stalls. Angel warily walked DeWard down to the last stall, neither saying a word. Angel then took up a position outside the stall that Severus clearly understood was one of keeping guard.

Severus stood there, and Angel cocked his head at the next stall.

"You better go while we're here," Angel told him.

Severus saw the logic of the suggestion and so followed Angel's advice. He came out of the stall the same time that DeWard did. The young man was gone.

"Help DeWard wash his hands, and watch the door," Angel instructed, flushing DeWard's toilet and then closing himself in the stall.

But Severus had just walked with DeWard down to the sinks and had just turned on the water when he heard Angel flush his toilet and almost immediately appear next them at the sinks -- so quickly that Severus would have almost believed Angel had apparated there.

"Hurry up, let's make sure the girls are okay," Angel stated as he let his hands gather some humidity from the faucets, then he pressed a button on a box on the wall, which resulted in warm air blowing out of it.

Angel lifted DeWard up to dry his hands in the blowing air. DeWard found this immensely amusing, but Angel wouldn't let him linger to play.

Severus was used to paper towels in the boys room at the school he attended back home, but he had never seen a box blowing air that dried hands. After Angel put DeWard down and headed for the door, Severus put his own wet hands up to the blowing air box.

But after only a few seconds, the air stopped blowing. Severus just stood there with water trickling down his arms, wondering what to do.

"Push the button!" Angel shouted, but before Severus could do anything, Angel leaned over and pushed the button for him.

The air started blowing again; Severus stood under the outlet, holding his hands to the air. Warm air blew on his face and hair and he wondered if this thing was like the blow dryer thing that he had used that morning.

"You're as bad as DeWard, I've got to do everything for you!" Angel exclaimed, holding DeWard's hand in one of his own while using the other to push the door open and look up and down the hall outside.

"You don't have to pick me up," Severus observed, as the air stopped blowing and he turned to Angel. Angel stared back at him, and then started to laugh.

"No...no, I don't have to pick you up!" Angel laughed. "Not yet, anyways!"

He held the door open. "Come on, let's find the girls."

There was no one else in the hallway.

"Go see if they're sitting down," Angel instructed Severus. "I'll wait here in case they haven't come out yet."

Severus went to the end of the hall and looked around the room where people were sitting at tables and booths.

At first he didn't recognize anyone, but then saw Azalea half standing from her seat in a booth towards the front of the room waving frantically at him. Yesmina sat opposite her, ad she turned to look at what Azalea was waving at, and then smiled and waved when she saw Severus.

Severus turned and went back up the hall to Angel and DeWard.

"They're sitting in there," he said, gesturing toward the dining room.

"You coulda just given me a heads up," Angel stated, as they walked up the hall.

"A what?" Severus asked.

"A...oh, never mind!" Angel sighed as they entered the dining room and went over to where the girls were sitting. "Why didn't you wait for us?"

"Cuz we figured we'd get us some seats instead!" Azalea countered.

"Sumthin' coulda happened..." Angel mumbled.

"Well, it didn't!" Azalea answered. "Come on, let's get something to eat!"

They left Yesmina behind with DeWard at the booth and took Severus with them up to the counter.

Angel and Azalea ordered for themselves plus Yesmina and DeWard. Severus couldn't decide whether he wanted a hamburger or a fish sandwich, so he decided that he'd get both a Big Mac and a Fishwich plus a large order of fries plus a large chocolate milkshake.

When they went back to the booth, he'd hoped he'd be able to sit next to Azalea, but Angel sat next to her first, and Yesmina scooted over closer to DeWard and indicated that Severus should sit next to her.

Music was playing over the intercom system in the restaurant.

_I had a dream last night  
What a lovely dream it was  
I dreamed we all were all right  
Happy in a land of oz_

Severus remained silent, concentrating on eating and especially on his chocolate milkshake, while Azalea and Angel argued. Severus was glad that Yesmina for once was neither talking nor crying.

"We gotta figure some way t'get home tonight!" Angel stated.

"Why?" Azalea demanded. "We already in trouble fo' bein' late!"

"But we'll be in worse trouble!" Angel countered.

"_You'll_ be in worse trouble! Me, I'll just get beat..."

Azalea took a big bite out of her burger and chewed it thoughtfully.

Severus glanced over at Yesmina -- sure enough, her eyes were wet and worse yet, DeWard seemed to be taking his cue from her as his lips trembled and tears started streaming down his face. It was obvious that it was only a matter of moments before DeWard would start caterwauling.

Severus grabbed an unused straw, ripped one end off it, and then blew the wrapper into DeWard's face. This succeeded in distracting DeWard, who looked up at Severus with opened mouth.

Severus took another unused straw and did the same thing. This time DeWard not only smiled, but also giggled and clapped his hands.

DeWard wasn't the only one who was distracted. Yesmina, Angel, and Azalea all stared at Severus as if he'd lost his mind.

Severus paused as he held a third straw to his mouth.

"You were making the kid cry," he explained, then blew the wrapper at DeWard, who by this time had caught onto the nature of the game. Unfortunately for those closest to him, he neglected to use a new straw but instead used the one with which he'd been drinking his soda.

This seemed to be the signal to commence a general melee of straw blowing, napkin and paper wrapping throwing, which then lead into flying french fries and bits of bun and catsup-soaked pickles.

Angel was particularly adept at squirting partially opened packets of catsup, to which Azalea responded with a barrage of mustard.

Severus had never seen Yesmina laughing so hard.

A pimply faced young man wearing a McDonald's uniform came over to their table. He had a bit of fuzz over his upper lip, and a tag on his shirt that had "Ass't Mgr" under his name.

"You'll have to stop that!" his voice cracked.

"Or what?!" Angel demanded.

"Or you'll have to leave!" the Ass't Mgr gravely informed them.

"Yeah?" Azalea laughed, and she squeezed a packet of mustard over the Ass't Mgr's name tag, making it difficult to see that he was an Ass't Mgr.

Severus knew that he didn't have much experience with Muggles, and especially with American Muggle culture -- but he had a pretty good idea that what Azalea had just done wasn't considered as funny by the Ass't Mgr as it was by everyone sitting at the booth.

"That's it!" the Ass't Mgr exclaimed. "I'm calling the police!"

He turned on his heels and stalked out of sight..

Everyone at the table was still laughing uncontrollably, but Angel and Azalea managed to scoop what was left of their food into bags and quickly slide out of the booth.

Severus took the hint, grabbed his chocolate milkshake, and stood up so that Yesmina could grab DeWard and get out of the booth and run laughing with Azalea toward the door.

Severus saw that Angel grabbed two handfuls of condiment packets before leaving the table. They met the girls at the door, everyone doubled over with laughter.

"Wait! Wait!" Angel gasped, grabbing Severus by the arm, then scattering the packets on the floor.

Severus understood immediately, and joined Angel and the others in stomping on the packets, resulting in a shower of catsup, mustard, tartar sauce and relish spraying the floor and some nearby tables and booths.

Still shrieking with laughter they ran out the door, only pausing as Angel stooped down to lift DeWard up to ride piggyback, then they ran around the corner and back into the park.

They stumbled into a tunnel and collapsed laughing into a corner just off the path. Severus and Yesmina lay giggling on a grassy embankment just outside the entrance. Angel let DeWard down here and collapsed next to the other two, guffawing.

DeWard chortled in glee, just happy that everyone else was happy. Azalea stood in front of them, bent at the waist, hand to her chest, trying to catch her breath.

"You crazy, English Boy!" she gasped.

Severus was endeavoring to catch his own breath.

"M...me!?" he gasped. "I only blew a few straw wrappers!"

This statement brought a fresh round of laughter from the others. Azalea started gasping at the same time she was laughing, and stumbled to where a low stone abutment projected from the tunnel entrance.

"You _crazy_, English Boy!" she again gasped as she sat down, hand still to her chest as she laughed.

"You okay, Azalea?" Angel asked, still laughing. Azalea nodded, but she still seemed to have difficulty breathing. Yesmina stopped laughing.

"Are you _sure _you're okay?" she asked.

Azalea nodded and made a dismissive gesture with her hand, but she still seemed to be having a problem catching her breath.

Yesmina jumped up and went over to Azalea, grabbed her handbag, and fished around the bottom of it before retrieving a small canister.

"Here!" Yesmina demanded, shoving it into Azalea's face.

Azalea took it and put her lips around the top and pressed, breathing in the contents.

Severus noticed that everyone had gotten very quiet, except for DeWard who announced, "Azalea's got cold."

"I'm okay, DeWard," she said, putting the canister back into her bag and taking a few deep breaths.

"Azalea has asthma," Yesmina told Severus. Angel just stared at his own feet.

"What's asthma?" Severus asked.

"Sometimes she has trouble breathing," Yesmina answered, coming back and sitting down next to Severus.

"It's stupid!" Azalea mumbled fiercely, and Severus recognized the same desire to not show weakness that he himself often attempted.

"When it happens, she needs to breathe in her medicine," Yesmina continued. "Remember that, in case Angel or me aren't around when it happens to her. Get that medicine out of her bag and make her breathe it!"

"Sure," Severus answered, really not sure at all.

"It ain't that important," Azalea interjected.

"Ain't important, 'cept you could _**die**_!" Angel shouted at her.

"Shut up!" Azalea countered, and Angel did.

In fact that repressed all conversation. Azalea fished a compact out of her bag and checked her hair and makeup. DeWard found the weeds and bugs on the embankment immensely interesting. Angel lay back and closed his eyes, and Yesmina just looked miserable again.

"You know, English Boy," Azalea stated, replacing the compact in her bag and fishing out a hair pick, "You keep actin' crazy they'll deport you..."

She looked at Severus and winked.

"His name's 'Severus'!" Angel exclaimed, not opening his eyes.

"I _know_ what English Boy's name is!" Azalea countered, glaring at Angel. She then turned back to Severus.

"I was just telling _Sev-er-us_ that they deport people like him who act crazy like that!"

Azalea again smiled and winked at Severus, who remained silent.

"_You_ the one's crazy!" Angel retorted. "Besides, that's what he wants. _He's _got a home to go back to!"

The bitterness in Angel's voice was unmistakable. Severus almost felt guilty.

"Who you callin' crazy!?" Azalea demanded.

"You could come with me!" Severus interrupted. He wasn't sure why he'd said it.

Azalea turned back to Severus with a look of surprise. Angel opened his eyes and stared at him. Yesmina looked loving and sad at the same time.

"What's it like where you live?" Azalea demanded.

"I don't know...," Severus floundered. "Nothing special."

"You ain't rich...?" said Azalea, as much a statement of fact as a question.

"No," Severus apologized, "I'm not rich."

Azalea snorted.

"We'd be just as bad off, then!"

"They'd never let us," Yesmina interjected. "But thank you for offering, Sev..."

Why was it always Yesmina who acted nice to him instead of Azalea, Severus thought to himself.

"Well, we STILL have to figure out what we're going to do," Angel interrupted, "cuz we're all in a shitload of trouble."

"Why can't we all just go back tomorrow and explain what happened?" Severus asked. Angel and Azalea looked at him as if he was insane. Yesmina looked sad again.

"Because, Sev-er-us!" Azalea began. "If we're all _lucky_, the least that'll happen is we all get beat!"

"Probably not him," Angel interjected. "They're supposed to be comin' back for him either today or tomorrow..."

"_**SO!**_" Azalea exclaimed, as if that proved some point. "That means Social Services knows Angel and Yesmina and DeWard's missin'!"

Azalea looked at Severus as if the point that she was trying to make should be abundantly clear.

"So?" Severus asked.

"_So!_" Azalea repeated. "That means they's goin' t'take them away!"

Severus was puzzled. DeWard had crawled into Yesmina's lap, and both looked like they were about to cry again.

"The Sarmientos aren't great," Angel stated softly, "but they're the best we been at...at least they don't..."

Angel's voice trailed off. He was biting his lip and looked like he'd have liked to punch something. Tears streamed down Yesmina's face as she hugged DeWard.

"Yeah, at least they _**don't**_...!" Azalea growled. "_At least_ _**they**_ _don't...!"_

She was almost screaming.

Severus had never felt this way before. He was frightened.. Not for himself. Not really. Not frightened _of_ these Muggle kids. He was frightened _for_ them.

He didn't know why. He didn't understand what. He just knew -- it was almost a palpable presence -- that they'd all been through something evil that he could not understand.

"So, English Boy!" Azalea turned to Severus, startling him. "_Sev-er-us_! They mess w'you back home!?"

"What?" was the only thing Severus could think of to say. Azalea came and leaned into his face, only inches away. Her piercing gaze seemed to burn right into him.

She then snorted and turned, going back to where she'd been sitting.

"He hasn't been messed with," Angel quietly confirmed. Severus had no idea what they were talking about, or how Angel would know whether he'd been "messed with", whatever it was.

"No, he's a _virgin_," Azalea said quietly.

There was that word again; he'd heard kids at school, and at the playground in Lily's neighborhood sometimes say it, always laughing as if it was a dirty word.

He wasn't sure whether Azalea was insulting him, but she hadn't said it like an insult, so he didn't say anything.

"So, Severus," Azalea snorted, one side of her mouth lifting, "the choice is whether we go back, and they take Angel and Yesmina and DeWard away and put them with people who'll do who knows what to them, and I get beat to within an inch of my life...of course, _you_ get to go home. Maybe. Maybe they'll blame _you_...say _you's_ the bad influence! Put _you_ in joovie, you _never_ get home...!"

Severus was afraid to ask what "joovie" meant. He just knew it sounded bad. He now desperately wanted to go home, but was just as desperately sure that it was now impossible. He bit his lip to keep from crying. Yesmina reached over, took his hand, and squeezed it.

"It'll be okay, Sev," Angel told him. "We won't let them take you. I told you...we stick together...we take care of each other...we won't let them break us up..."

"So what do we do, then?" Severus asked, slipping his hand out of Yesmina's.

Azalea stared at him for a second, and then laughed, opening her bag and searching for something in it.

"Well tonight we party!" she announced, producing a bottle that had a reddish liquid in it.

"_What the_...?" Angel demanded, leaning forward and grabbing the bottle.

"Stole it from my aunt!" Azalea proudly announced. "It's called _Cherry Key-ah-fah_, it's spelled funny cuz it's foreign..."

Angel twisted open the bottle cap, and took a tentative taste; the look on his face betrayed that he was pleasantly surprised with the taste. He took a longer swig of the contents and passed the bottle to Yesmina, who after a tentative taste also took a deep swallow and passed the bottle to Severus.

Severus looked at the bottle and it's contents with some skepticism.. The liquid was very pink, almost red. He took a sniff, and indeed the liquid did smell faintly of cherries. As he was debating whether to drink it or not, Azalea fished something else out of her bag, which Severus wondered, was bewitched so that it could anything and everything put into it.

"Also stole _this_ from her!" Azalea announce, tossing a clear plastic baggie onto the grass by Angel. Severus couldn't quite make out what was in the baggie, but Angel and Yesmina's eyes bugged out when they saw it.

"Azalea! _What the fuck!"_ Angel exclaimed, scooping up the bag and putting it under his shirt while he looked furtively around them.

"No one's around, I checked," Azalea announced, tossing a lighter at Angel. She looked at Severus. "You gonna drink that?"

Severus looked down at the bottle, and without first testing how it tasted, just put the bottle to his lips and took a swallow.

It was very sweet, but also burned his tongue and throat. After the burning sensation subsided, he noticed the taste of cherries in his mouth, but also the sensation of cherry in his nose.

And almost immediately, he felt pleasantly light-headed.

Azalea grabbed the bottle away from him and took a drink; she then passed the bottle to DeWard, who needed Yesmina's help to tilt the large bottle..

"He's gonna sleep tight tonight!" Azalea laughed. "All li'l children should sleep tight!"

Azalea found that statement very funny, but Severus couldn't fathom the joke. Yesmina passed the bottle to him after having taken a drink herself, and as Severus took his second swallow and passed the bottle back to Azalea, Angel was taking something out of the baggie and using Azalea's lighter to light one end of it.

Angel then stuck the unlit end into his mouth and sucked deeply; Severus had seen people smoking cigarettes like that, but he'd never seen a cigarette that was all greenish brown and somewhat lumpy like this one was.

Angel passed the funny cigarette to Azalea who, after taking a quick swallow of the burning cherry stuff, passed the bottle to Angel. Azalea took a deep puff from the funny cigarette, then passed it to Severus.

He looked at it, not knowing what to do; he'd never smoked anything before.

"Take a deep drag," Azalea instructed, "and hold it for as long as you can before breathing again..."

Severus tentatively put the unlit end into his mouth and inhaled.

The stuff burned worse than the cherry liquid. He tried to hold his breath, but after only a second, he started coughing uncontrollably.

Everyone else found this very funny.

"Try again, Sev," Yesmina told him. "I had trouble at first, too..."

Severus took another drag; this time he was determined not to gag, because he didn't want Yesmina being better than him at anything.

He held his breath as Yesmina leaned over and took the funny cigarette from him and sucked on it. She then passed it to Angel.

The stuff burned terribly, but he was determined not to give in. His eyes started watering, but as Angel took his turn and passed it back to Azalea, Severus still held his breath.

Azalea took a deep drag and passed it back to Severus at the same time the burning cherry liquid bottle was passed to him from Yesmina. Severus finally breathed, taking a swig from the bottle followed by another long breath of smoke from the funny cigarette.

He wondered if this was part of the magick that Muggles had stolen from wizards that he'd heard his mother talk about.

What it was doing to him _seemed_ like magick.

When he could no longer hold his breath, he exhaled, and then he realized just how very funny everything was. How really ridiculous. Him. How he got here. These kids. The predicament in which they all now found themselves.

Hilarious.

Why were they all so very serious just a short while ago? That was stupid. Nothing's that bad. It's not bad at all. They just won't go back, that solves the problem.

He couldn't stop laughing.

No one else could stop laughing. He was glad. He even liked Yesmina this way, she should be giggling uncontrollably all of the time instead of crying.

Soon everyone was hungry again, and Severus was glad to share all of the food he had hidden in his coat pockets and in the duffle bag. Azalea found it very funny, and also impressive, that Severus admitted that he had stolen it.

Azalea fished a radio out of her seemingly bottomless bag, so that they could have music.

They made plans. Azalea told them about something called a "Free Store" in something called "The Village" (Severus wondered if it would be hard traveling to The Village from the city) where they could get clothes.

She then said they could all ride some dog down south to her grandmother's house where they'd all be welcome. Severus didn't understand how one greyhound could carry them all...he'd have thought they'd have needed at least two, maybe three, unless it was an unusually large greyhound dog.

Everyone thought this was immensely funny when he said it.

They talked about their dreams for the future. Azalea wanted to become a dancer or a fashion model. Angel wanted to be an astronaut or a baseball player. When pressed, DeWard decided he'd be a fireman when he grew up. Yesmina announced that her greatest desire was to get married and become a mother to many babies.

Everyone laughed hysterically when Severus said he wanted to be a wizard, even Severus himself.

They'd finished the bottle of burning cherry liquid, and had smoked two more funny cigarettes. Angel wrapped up the baggie with the remaining funny cigarettes and hid it in Severus' duffle bag.

By this time, it had gotten dark; they had some light from lampposts about 20 feet from either entrance to the tunnel, but the center of the tunnel was almost pitch black.

DeWard was already asleep, his head in Yesmina's lap. Yesmina herself looked to be nodding off, and even Azalea stifled a yawn.

Severus spread his coat on the grass for them to lie on; Yesmina stated she thought that was very gallant of Severus, at which Azalea laughed and stated that he was now Sir Severus the Gallant, and then she passed out.

Yesmina cradled DeWard between them; Severus sat on the corner of his coat that was still available, and was just about to lay down, when he noticed Angel sitting on the low wall in the tunnel, just outside of the pool of light.

Severus watched him for a few moments, and it was obvious that Angel was keeping guard.

Severus got up, walked over, and sat next to Angel, neither saying a word..

They sat there for about a minute in silence. Angel then looked at the others, who were now asleep.

"Y'know why they took Yesmina away from her mother?" he suddenly asked.

"Something about her mother being addicted to something..." Severus answered, not sure where Angel was going with this.

"Yeah, but you know _how_ her mother got the money for the junk?" Angel paused. "Her mother had men pay to have sex with Yesmina. She was younger than DeWard's now...then she was put into a foster home, and the father there messed with her too...!"

Severus didn't say anything. So _that_ was what "messed with" meant.

"And Azalea...her whole family messed with her!" Angel exclaimed in disgust. "They move her from one relative to another, they all just mess with her! Where she at now, her aunt _sells_ her to men so's the aunt can have more than just the monthly gov'ment check...!"

Severus looked at the sleeping girls, not saying a word.

"And DeWard!" Angel continued. "Who _knows_ what's really happened with him! Don't know if anyone messed with him, but he's messed up!"

"What do you mean?" Severus asked, turning back to Angel.

"Look at him! He acts like he's _two_!" Angel whispered harshly. "_Somethin'_ happened t'him, happened to whoever Shawna or DeShonna was! He doesn't call out for her so much now, but he used to cry all the time in his sleep and call for her, or his mother..."

Severus wondered why Angel was telling him all this.

"We gotta watch out for them," Angel continued, as if reading Severus' thoughts. "DeWard's so young, and Yesmina's so...well, she's delicate. Fragile. She's got that condition that makes her so pale and makes her bleed. And Azalea acts so tough, but she ain't..."

Severus heard a sound farther down in the tunnel where it was dark. Angel didn't seem to notice. Perhaps it was just an animal.

"She talks about us going to her grandmother's," Angel continued to whisper, "but why isn't she already at granny's then?"

Severus heard it again, and this time so did Angel, who turned and looked in the same direction as Severus.

They were both in the dark, but the girls and DeWard were just outside the tunnel, with the lamppost bathing them in an eerie green light.

The crunch of gravel under someone's foot was now unmistakable, and was also much closer than before.

Severus saw Angel lean down and pick up a large rock next to him, never moving his eyes from where the sound was last heard.

Severus watched, and saw a movement in the shadows just beyond where the light didn't reach. He couldn't tell whether it was a boy or a man, but whoever it was, they were much taller than Angel and Severus.

Severus glanced over at Angel; the look on Angel's face immediately informed Severus that this wasn't the first time that Angel had been in such a situation. But somehow Severus also knew that Angel was scared, frightened almost to the point of panic. Yet Angel didn't move, just continued to watch and wait, his rock ready to use as a weapon.

There was another crunching sound, and Severus could now see the intruder's face, at least the nose and eyes. And the eyes were staring at the girls with the ravenous appetite of a starving animal.

Before the intruder could get any closer, Angel stood up and threw the rock he'd been holding, hitting the intruder on the side of the head.

Unfortunately, it didn't knock the stranger out, or seemingly do much damage at all. He turned and looked into the dark where Angel and Severus were standing; they weren't sure whether they could be seen or not, but it was obvious that their presence was now known.

Angel frantically looked around for another rock to throw, when suddenly it seemed like every loose rock in the tunnel was flying at the intruder at once. Angel stopped and looked from the intruder back to Severus, who was just standing and glaring at the intruder, who was now running in the opposite direction out of the tunnel, with the blizzard of rocks following him.

The rocks stopped flying as soon as the intruder disappeared out of sight.

Severus turned to Angel, about to say, "That was weird!", but stopped when he saw Angel's expression.

Angel was staring at him with an expression of respect, perhaps tinged with a little fear.

"Brujo!" Angel exclaimed in awe, sitting down again but not taking his eyes off Severus.

"What's 'brujo'?" Severus asked, sitting down next to Angel. Angel just shook his head and chuckled.

"Maybe you _are_ going to be a wizard when you grow up, Magic Man!" Angel exclaimed. He looked back up the tunnel where the intruder had disappeared. "I don't think he'll be coming back tonight, but you never know. Or there may be others. We'll still have to keep a watch."

Severus nodded.

"No reason both of us stayin' awake, though..." Angel continued, yawning. "You want to sleep first? Or you stay up now, wake me in a few hours so's you can sleep..."

"Okay," Severus answered. There were so many things he was thinking about, not the least of which was wondering whether Angel really _did_ recognize that he was a wizard, that Severus knew it would be hard getting to sleep at this time.

Angel went over to the girls and took the corner of the coat that was still empty, and lay down...but Severus suspected that Angel didn't fall asleep for some time.

Azalea's radio was still playing softly; a woman with a lovely soft voice would occasionally announce what had played, and once Severus heard her refer to herself as the "Night Bird" at somewhere called WNET-FM.

Severus wondered if she might be a witch, and if someone calling themselves a 'Night Bird' might know where he could find an owl or two so that he could get letters back to his Mum and to Lily letting them know that he was alright.

Finally, after a few hours, Angel came and told him to get some sleep. As he lay on the corner of his coat next to Yesmina, he heard the Night Bird woman play the same song he'd heard earlier in the restaurant.

Nestled together like lost puppies huddled against the elements, Severus soon joined the others in the land of Oz...

* * *

I had a dream last night  
What a lovely dream it was  
I dreamed we all were alright  
Happy in a land of Oz

Why did everybody laugh when I told them my dream?  
I guess they all were so far from that kind of that scene  
Feeling real mean

I heard a song last night  
What a lovely song it was  
I thought I'd hum it all night

Unforgettable because..  
All of the players were playing together  
And all of the heavies were as light as a feather  
See, your love remember is a feeling of sorrow  
But as I recall, the rest will just follow

I had a dream last night  
What a lovely dream it was  
I dreamed we all were alright  
Happy in a land of Oz

What a lovely dream it was  
What a lovely dream it was  
What a lovely dream it was

I HAD A DREAM  
John Sebastian  
1969 


	6. Chapter 4 We Should Be Together Jul20'69

**_

* * *

_**

**_Apologies beforehand for my BabelFish'd Spanish in the following chapter.  
Please feel free to email any corrections to me._**

* * *

The sound of multiple feet could be heard furtively moving through the alleyway. A beer bottle rolled across the pavement. 

"Shhhh!"

"It wasn't me!" a voice whispered back.

"It was a cat..." another whispered.

"More likely a rat!" a fourth voice added.

The emerged from the alley into the light from the streetlamps, two boys and a girl about their same age, and another girl who was slightly older than the other three.

"There it is," the stocky little boy with curly dark hair pointed, indicating a building with "Post Office" chiseled over its stony entrance. There were no people out on the street this time of night.

They quickly checked both ends of the street, then ran across to the steps.

"Stay here, Yesmina, and give us a signal if anyone shows up," Azalea whispered, and she and the two boys then ran up the steps.

At the top she retrieved some spray paint from her handbag, then handed two of them to the boys.

"Now what they say we's supposed to write?" she asked Severus. He retrieved a crumpled piece of paper from his jeans pocket and held it up to read by the streetlight.

"_'Your Enemy Is We'_", he answered.

"_'Up Against The Wall Mo_..." his voice trailed off.

"What?" Angel demanded.

"It's a bad word," Severus answered, to which Azalea laughed before grabbing the piece of paper.

"_'Up Against The Wall Motherfucker!_'" she announced. "_'Tear Down The Walls_"...well, if they tear down the goddamned walls, we wouldn't have anything t'write on, would we?!"

She laughed again, then continued, "_'Truth Is Dead'; 'Alienate The State'; 'Civil War Is The Highest Form Of Consciousness'_...how the hell they think we's gonna have enough space to write all this shit!?"

"Or enough time before someone shows up?" Severus asked. "What does all that mean?"

"Damned if I know! _'Vietnam - Love It Or Leave It'_...THAT I understand." she continued. "_'Power To The People'_...I like that one; _'World Without Leaders'; 'Question Authority'; 'There's No Government Like No Government'; 'Smash The State'; 'Lonely? Revolt!'_...what they be smokin', t'come up with THAT one?"

She looked at the front of the building.

"And they also said we could make up our own stuff, too," Severus added. "AND we're supposed put the letter _'A'_ in a circle..."

"We'd need something this whole block long to put all THAT on!" Azalea exclaimed.

"I'll do the Vietnam one," Angel stated, going to the left of the entrance and reaching as high as he could, started spraying the letter _'V'_.

The other two looked at each other.

"Let's do something short," Severus suggested.

"You got it!" Azalea laughed, and Severus sprayed _"Question Authority"_ while the girl sprayed _"Pigs"_ to the right of the entrance.

Then for good measure Azalea lifted Severus onto her shoulders piggyback style so that he could spray _"Peace"_ and _"Power To The People"_ higher up on the facade.

They finished by adding a few capital letter _'A'_s inside circles, then ran down the steps.

Angel let Yesmina take his spray can and she proceeded to write _"Love"_ on the wall to the left of the steps, while Azalea helped Severus write _"Muggles"_ on the wall to the right.

This last flourish had both giggling, which was brought to an abrupt halt by Angel's shrill whistle. They looked to where he was pointing, and saw a police car just turning the corner.

They weren't sure whether they'd been spotted yet, but all four ran up an alley next to the Post Office and then the two girls ran in one direction while the two boys went off in another.

Severus followed Angel through a series of alleys. They'd occasionally hear a police siren nearby, but it wasn't clear whether it was for them or not.

They finally emerged out onto a street in a neighborhood Severus didn't recognize. And most of the signs were in a language he didn't understand.

"Where are we?" Severus asked Angel, but before he could answer a police car neared them, so Angel shoved Severus through the doorway of the nearest open business. Severus was just able to glimpse the word _"Bodega"_ on the store's sign.

Angel showed little interest in the contents of the shop, as he peered out the display window to check on the presence of the police.

But Severus was fascinated -- there was a strong smell of stale incense and old tobacco smoke, and there were a multitude of various statuettes for sale, along with candles in various colors, some of which had pictures or writing on their sides. Various colored and patterned cloth hung from the ceiling, and beads -- lots and lots of beads.

But what really caught his interest were the seemingly endless supply of jars and packets and boxes of various herbs and seeds and oils and resins, some of which he recognized from his mother's supply of potions' ingredients.

She had shown him a fair number of potions and spells already, fairly simple things she'd said, so that he'd be prepared for his first year at Hogwarts. But he'd sometimes secretly do other spells, using her old potions book from school, when no one was home to disapprove.

He slowly moved down the aisle; some of the items were labeled with the Latin names he recognized from what his mother had taught him. Others had names in another language that Severus didn't know, but he recognized what the thing was.

He picked out packets of dried Henbane, Sorcerer's Cherry, Kanna, Jurema Branca, Syrian Rue, Salvia, Screw Pine Nuts, Blue Water Lily, Jouzmathal and Thorn Apple, He chose something called "Cymbopogon" and also Turkistan Mint because he knew these from a potion his mother made to help stop bleeding, and something called "Kaempferia", the root of which his mother made into a tea for sore throats and coughs, and also used the dried leaves for swellings and eye infections.

But most precious of all was Mandragora; granted, there was only dried, shaved root available and not the more potent fresh, whole root, but it would have to do.

Severus turned at the end of the aisle, and saw an old man sitting by the cash resister. But what really caught Severus' eye was what was in the glass case below the cash register.

Amongst a hodgepodge of rosaries and medallions was one, lone, long, tapering piece of wood. It was a very dark wood, and parts of it were even darker, as if stained by years of sweat.

Severus put his potions materials down next to the cash register, and crouched down to get a closer look at the wand. To his surprise, the old man got up and took the wand out of the case, handing it to Severus without a word.

Severus took it reverently, cradling it with both hands. After turning it over a few times, he held the wide end in his right hand and stroked the wand with his left. It felt almost like a living thing.

Without really thinking he pointed it toward the nearest shelf, and was only slightly surprised when the items on the shelf moved.

"_Se elige le pues es jefe_," the old man said. "_Tomelo_."

Severus looked at him quizzically. On hearing the old man speak, Angel came over and stood by Severus.

"He said whatever that is, it's chosen you," Angel stated. Severus did not look surprised.

"How much?" he asked.

_"¿Cuánto dinero, abuelo?"_ Angel asked the old man.

_"Diez dólares,"_ was the answer.

_"¿Para un palillo?"_ Angel demanded, clearly outraged.

_"Okay, ocho dólares, entonces,"_ the old man said.

Angel still didn't look quite satisfied, but said to Severus, "He wants eight dollars for it."

"That's fine," Severus told him. Angel looked at him as if he had lost his mind, but turned back to the old man.

_"¡Entonces dénos mucho en todo, usted viejo ladrón!"_ Angel demanded.

_"Okay..."_ the old man answered, _"quince dólares..."_

_"¿Siete dólares para esta mierda?"_ Angel exclaimed.

The old man chuckled.

_"__Él__ no piensa que es mierda!,"_ he answered, gesturing to Severus.

_"¡No cuido!"_ Angel responded. _"¡No nos engañe, el antiguo!"_

Severus understood that Angel was fighting on his behalf over the price that the old man wanted to charge, but quite frankly he would have paid all the money he had left to buy the wand. But he let Angel continue to haggle.

_"Okay...okay..."_ the old man sighed. _"Doce dólares, ningunos menos."_

"He says twelve dollars for everything," Angel told Severus, who retrieved a wad of dollar bills from his front jeans pocket.

Angel helped him to count out the money, and then handed it to the old man behind the counter.

_"Él desea ser brujo cuando él crece para arriba..."_ Angel said sarcastically.

The old man looked up from the cash register drawer into which he was placing the money. He smiled cryptically.

_"¡Él __es__ ya brujo!"_ he chuckled. Angel did not look pleased with this answer.

_"¿Es __usted__ brujo, abuelo?"_ he asked the old man.

Instead of answering Angel's question, the old man handed Severus a bag filled with the potions ingredients he'd just bought, and stared deeply into Severus' eyes.

_"Grandes cosas,"_ the old man said to him. _"Usted es destinado hacer grandes cosas con esa varita, hombre mágico!"_

Severus, of course, had no idea what the old man had just said to him, and looked at Angel quizzically.

"Just tell him _'Gracias'_ and let's get out of here!" Angel exclaimed angrily, grabbing the bag from the old man.

_"Gracias,"_ Severus told the old man, making a slight bow, and then turned to follow after Angel who was making a quick beeline to the door.

_"Buena noche, brujo joven!"_ the old man called after him.

"Yeah, _gracias abuelo!"_ Angel called out without turning around, making a dismissive gesture and then slamming the door open and almost running out onto the sidewalk.

Severus followed, slowly examining the wand that he was carrying. He stopped next to Angel, and then turned and looked back at the store.

"I should have had you ask him if he knew of any owls I could use to send a message home..."

"What _is_ it with you and owls?" an exasperated Angel demanded. "I _told_ you, there ain't no owls in New York City, unless you go to the zoo or sumthin' and then they'd be in cages!"

"But he might have known of some..." Severus continued.

"Listen, the only birds that guy knows about are pigeons, especially pigeons like _you_ that he sees a mile coming!"

Severus had no idea what Angel was talking about, but since he seemed so angry and agitated, Severus decided to say nothing.

"Besides, ain't no owls gonna be able to fly across the ocean!" Angel continued. "I told you, just send a letter through the mail if ya can't call them!"

Angel stalked down the street.

"Put that stick away, it gives me the creeps!" Angel muttered.

Severus didn't understand why it should upset Angel so much, but he stuck the wand into his shirt pocket, where it stuck out by quite a few inches, and took his shopping bag from Angel without a word.

No words were exchanged for the rest of their journey home, which was mostly done via subway.

They ended up in a semi-residential neighborhood made up mostly of multistory brownstones. As they neared one particular building, Angel finally spoke.

"I hope the girls made it home okay."

"Yes," Severus answered, glad that Angel seemed to have stopped being angry. "They probably have, Azalea is very clever that way."

Angel snorted and smirked at the same time. They approached a building towards the middle of the block that had a business on the ground floor, with a sign stating _"Community Free Store"_ over the entrance.

They went through an unlocked door which was next to the entrance to the store, and climbed a flight of stairs.

The closer they got to the top floor, the more hippies they encountered, some going up, some coming down. There were also a fair number just sitting on the steps, some smoking various substances. One couple was making out, while on the next landing someone was strumming a guitar and reciting his own very bad poetry to an adoring audience.

When Severus and Angel had made it past this obstacle, they encountered a lady dancing by herself on the next landing. She didn't take any notice of the boys, and they ignored her as they continued to climb the stairs.

As they got closer to the top landing, more of the people acknowledged them, waving hello or goodbye, which the boys good-naturedly returned.

Finally they reached the top landing. All the doors here were open, some with curtains of beads hanging in the doorway.

Where the paint wasn't peeling, plaster was falling away. A good many of these defects were hidden by various posters, most of which touted political rallies which had been held months previously, plus one hand-drawn sign touting a group going by the acronym _"UAW/MF"._

Some of the posters were gaily colored psychedelic images, which Severus liked better than the other posters. He noticed a new one was up on the wall, advertising a musical concert that was going to be held the following month. Someone had taken a black marker and scrawled _"Make It Free!"_ over the part that advertised ticket prices.

But the thing Severus liked most of all was a page from a newspaper that was taped to the wall, with red marker highlighting a certain article relating how police were concerned about a recent spate of vandalism.

Graffiti was being spray painted on federal buildings, the article related. What had the police and a recently formed federal task force puzzled was that all of these acts of vandalism always had the cryptic word _"Muggles"_ scrawled somewhere amongst the other words. The authorities understood that the capital letter _'A'_ inside a circle was often used by anarchists as a type of signature, but they were stumped by what the word _"Muggles"_ could mean.

Some conjectured that it was the name of a particular anarchist group, or perhaps a new street gang. Authorities were offering a reward to anyone who would come forward with information about this new group calling itself _"Muggles"._

There was a pervasive smell of old garlic and stale incense in the hall, and as Severus and Angel approached one particular door, the strong smell of pot being smoked. Jefferson Airplane was blaring from a stereo.

_We are all outlaws  
In the eyes of Amerika  
In order to survive we  
Steal, cheat, lie,  
Forge, fuck, hide and deal  
We are obscene, lawless, hideous  
Dangerous, dirty, violent  
And young..._

The front room was painted a dark purple color and the only illumination was by a red and yellow lava lamp and a black light that made the posters on the walls glow brightly.

Severus and Angel gingerly stepped around and over the bodies of various people sprawled on the floor of the front room, and through another curtain of beads to the kitchen in back. They then climbed through an open window and onto the roof of the building next door.

_We are forces of chaos and anarchy,  
Everything they say we are, we are,  
And we are very  
Proud of ourselves.  
Up against the wall!  
Up against the wall, motherfucker!  
Tear down the walls!  
Tear down the walls!  
Come on now together!  
Get it together!  
Everybody together!_

"Boys! Come look at this!"

An outdoor room had been set up on the roof to take advantage of the cool night breezes off of the river. To one side was a sort of tent-like structure made up of paisleyed and tie-dyed sheets and blankets hung on ropes strung from the corner of one building to the next.

In the center of the roof was a large table with a myriad of chairs in various state of repair. And in the corner, closest to their building, someone had erected a television antenna, and snaked an extension cord out of a window by which a portable TV could run.

Azalea, Yesmina, and DeWard were illuminated by the TV's flickering light, laying on their stomachs on blankets and quilts, heads propped up with their hands. To one side, a woman lay on an old couch, and beckoned the boys to come over.

Annie was 24, with freckles and short, light brown hair, and rarely without a smile. She was very smart, very pretty, very artistic, and very pregnant.

Her job was usually to both help run the store downstairs and the free food kitchen the group ran. But with her advanced pregnancy, she'd had to curtail her activities to just making a week's-long supply of her signature spaghetti sauce, and her tie-dying.

Severus thought that most things that were tie-dyed were actually pretty garish and ugly...but Annie's were different. She made her own dyes, and it was almost magickal to see what she could create.

And her tie-dyeing technique was rather involved, and resulted in some rather spectacular and very beautiful designs, many of which actually looked like paintings.

A combination of Severus' curiosity and Annie's chronic aversion to anything pure white remaining pure white, had resulted in her teaching Severus her techniques over the past few weeks that they'd been living with her and her husband Benjie.

It had also resulted in every item of clothing that Severus owned that had previously been white was now multicolored, including his knickers.

She hadn't asked for permission; he'd just come home one night to find his, Angel's, Azalea's, Yesmina's and DeWard's unmentionables turned into mentionables.

For some reason, it hadn't upset him. Surprised him, yes. But it was Azalea who took the most umbrage to Annie's artistic license, but more because it was just the idea of someone messing with her things without permission. When everyone commented on how pretty her things now looked, she calmed down -- but not before getting Annie to promise to ask permission first before undertaking any more projects on their behalf.

"Hurry up!" Annie urged them, gesturing for them to come over.

Azalea and Yesmina continued to gaze at the TV, while DeWard decided whatever it was they were watching was boring and started playing with some empty cans, rolling them back and forth.

Severus and Angel walked over to see what was so interesting on the TV.

"What took you so long?" Azalea asked, without looking away from the TV.

"Cops," Angel answered, sitting down on the floor and leaning against the arm of the couch.

"You didn't get caught, did you?" Annie asked.

"Nah...Sev here decided to go _shopping_!"

Severus had just sat down behind Azalea. She and Yesmina now turned from the TV and looked at him, Azalea particularly eyeing his shopping bag.

"You get us sumthin' t'eat?" she demanded, grabbing the bag and peering in it.

"What _is_ this shit!" she exclaimed, picking out one of the packets and holding it to her nose, then throwing it back into the bag with disgust, and then throwing the whole shopping bag back at him. "Smells nasty!"

"It was a bodega," Angel told them. Azalea snorted with disgust and went back to watching TV. Yesmina's look was cryptic, but she neither said anything or turned back to the TV.

"A bodega?" Annie asked, taking the bag and peering in, gingerly picking through its contents. "You know about this stuff, Sev?"

Severus thought quickly.

"Sort of...me mum taught me some stuff," he answered. He had found out over the past few weeks that if he mimicked how the singing group called The Beatles spoke, that it immediately disarmed most listeners, who thought that he sounded so cute.

"Oh!" Annie exclaimed. "I didn't know your mother was an herbalist!"

"Yeah..." Severus winged it. "She knows some stuff about herbs and plants. Natural stuff, stuff country folk use..."

He knew that Annie was a staunch advocate of natural foods and natural medicines, and that Azalea often spoke of her granny's folk remedies. As he'd hoped, his answer seemed to satisfy both Azalea, who continued to gaze at the TV, and Annie, who handed the shopping bag back to Severus with a smile.

But Yesmina continued to stare at him cryptically, and Angel just stared at him.

"What are you watching on the television?" Severus asked, to change the subject.

"Oh!" Annie exclaimed. Annie often exclaimed. "_That's_ what I called you over for!"

She waved her hand towards the TV.

"Watch!" she exclaimed. "Watch it! This is _historical_!"

Severus and Angel looked up at the screen; Yesmina slowly turned back to it.

Severus wasn't sure what he should be seeing. It was all black, gray, and white fuzzy shapes. Nothing was moving. Some voices that sounded very mechanical were saying something that he couldn't understand.

"What is it?" Angel asked, much to Severus' relief.

"It's the _Moon Landing_!" Annie exclaimed. "Remember!? Man is _walking_ on the _moon_!"

"They ain't walked yet," Azalea corrected. "They's just _waitin'_ on th'moon's all's we can see for the past two hours!"

Severus looked at the TV screen, but for the life of him he couldn't make heads or tails of what he was supposed to be seeing. Again, he was grateful that Angel spoke up first.

"So what the hell are we supposed to be looking at?" he demanded.

Yesmina scooted up to the TV screen and pointed.

"This is the lunar model," she said.

"Module, dear," Annie corrected kindly.

"Lunar _module_," Yesmina repeated, then moved her finger off to the side. "This is the moon itself." To Severus it was just a bit of whitish blob on the corner of the screen.

She then pointed to a patch of black on the screen. "That's the sky."

Severus stared. He still had a hard time figuring out what he was supposed to be seeing.

"Why is the sky black? Is it night there, too?" he asked.

Everyone except DeWard stared at him.

"Of _course_ it's night!" Azalea exclaimed. "it's _always_ night on th'moon!"

"Why?" Severus asked.

"Don't they teach you _anything_ over in England?" Azalea demanded. "Cuz the moon only come _out _at night! It can only _be_ night where th'moon's at!"

Annie chuckled and shook her head.

"The moon has no atmosphere, Sev," she told him. "So the sky there will always be black, because outer space is black..."

"Sooo...there's no air on the moon?" he asked.

"That's right, Sev," Annie answered.

"So how can they breathe?"

"They have oxygen in the lunar module, and when they come outside they'll be wearing special suits that will allow them to breathe."

"What's a 'module'," he asked her.

"That's the vehicle they used to fly to the moon in," Annie answered, "and which they'll use to leave the moon to get back to the rocket that'll bring them home to Earth."

Severus turned back to the TV, but nothing seemed to be happening.

Muggles flying to the moon. Was _that_ the magick they were said to be stealing from the Wizarding World? But he had never heard of a wizard or witch flying to the moon, so _would_ it be stolen magick?

Or did Muggles have their own type of magick?

He didn't think that his mother would have lied to him. But perhaps _she_ had been lied to. Perhaps someone had been lying to the wizarding community about Muggles.

He looked up to the sky, and found the moon. There were actually people on it at that moment.

"Finally!" Azalea shouted.

"DeWard! Watch!" Yesmina stated, sitting up and seating DeWard on her lap.

"Hey! Everybody!" Annie exclaimed. "Come out here! The walk's beginning!"

Severus was surprised to hear similar statements coming out from almost all of the open windows in the buildings surrounding them. It seemed like everyone had stayed up to watch this.

People started climbing out the kitchen window onto the roof, including Annie's husband Benjie, who sat on the couch next to her. The others sat around the table or on the roof, passing a joint amongst themselves.

Severus watched the TV, and could just make out a figure in human form descending out of the lunar module. It climbed down some stairs, and after turning one way and then another, as if trying to determine where the camera was, it faced forward.

"_That was one small step for a man,"_ the figure stated, "_and one giant leap for mankind."_

Cheering broke out, not only on their own rooftop, but Severus could hear cheering from all the buildings around them.

"Right on!" Azalea shouted.

"Yes!" Angel added, throwing his clenched fist into the air.

Yesmina was clapping with DeWard, who only understood that everyone was happy.

"Far out!" Benjie exclaimed.. Benjie rarely exclaimed.

"Groovy, man!" one of their guests exclaimed after taking a toke and passing it on to his neighbor.

"Man is on the _moon_!" another exclaimed, to which a second added, "The _man_ is on the moon! The Man!"

A third opined "_We_ gotta take it over! The _masses_ on the moon!", before taking a toke on the rotating roach.

Severus just sat there, wondering what it all meant.

"Man is walking on the goddamned _moon_, Sev!" Azalea exclaimed, grabbing his hands in both of hers and shaking them up and down. "Get excited!"

Severus smiled at her, looked at the TV screen, and then up at the moon in the sky. Someone was walking on it at that very moment.

Before he knew it, Azalea grabbed his face in both of her hands, and kissed him. On the mouth. Hard.

"We's on the _moon_!" she exclaimed when she pulled away. "Don't you know what that _mean_?"

At that moment, Severus wasn't even sure he understood what language she was speaking.

Angel and Yesmina looked as stunned as Severus felt, but then Angel smirked. Benjie and Annie started laughing.

"It means _anything_ is possible, Sev," Benjie stated. "_That's_ why Azalea's so excited. She knows that's true. It means we can do _anything_!"

"Just think of it!" Annie exclaimed.. "Our baby one day will be living on the moon! Or maybe even Mars!"

"_Living_ on the moon!?" Severus wondered. "Is that possible?"

Benjie laughed. "Didn't you hear what I just said? _Anything_ is possible!"

"Back in 1961, nobody thought we'd get to the moon, Sev," Annie added, "at least not anytime soon. But then President Kennedy set a goal -- a challenge, really -- that America send a man to the moon by the end of decade...and we have. In less than ten years we were able to send someone to the moon..."

"Imagine if we could do _that_," Benjie exclaimed, "just imagine what will be possible when you kids are adults! When your own kids are having kids! They'll be multiple space stations and space colonies, your grandkids just might attend school on Mars!"

Benjie hugged Annie.

"Maybe by then there'll be no war," one of their friends added.

"And no poverty!" stated another.

"Oh! Speaking of which!" Benjie exclaimed, taking his arm from around Annie and leaning forward towards the kids.

"Remember our plan to head south next month?"

He saw the look on their faces.

"Don't worry!" he quickly added. "We're all still going! Just that we're going to be taking a little detour first..."

He took out a pamphlet. The picture on the front matched the picture on the new poster out in the hallway.

"There's this big concert next month upstate," he explained. "But look at how much they're charging for tickets!"

He handed the pamphlet to Angel who, after perusing it, handed it to Azalea, who shared it with Yesmina. Severus just waited to hear what Benjie had to say.

"The group believes that it should be a _free_ concert!" Benjie stated, to which a couple of his friends added "Yeah! Right on!"

"So we're going to leave on our trip a little earlier, and head up with the rest of the group to the concert a day before it begins, and we're going to take down the fence so that everyone can get in free of charge! And then of course we'll stick around for the concert, then leave on our trip!"

Benjie and Annie smiled at them. The youngsters just stared at each other, then Angel, Azalea, and Yesmina all started laughing and slapping each other's hands.

DeWard chortled. Severus didn't understand anything except that they were going to take down a fence.

Azalea shook his shoulders, kissed him (on the cheek this time), and exclaimed, "We're going to a _rock concert_!"

Severus had by this time learned that when "rock" was used in this context, it referred to a type of music and not to stones.

"With famous bands!" Angel added.

"For _free_!" Azalea screamed. Benjie and Annie were laughing, but Severus was only bemused. He wondered if Azalea was going to kiss him again.

"When are we going?" he finally asked.

"Well, the concert starts on Friday, August 15th," Benjie stated, "and runs through Sunday night. We figured we'd either leave late on Wednesday the 13th or early on the 14th so we can cut down the fences before the crowd shows up..."

"How many people do they think will go?" Angel asked.

"Probably fifty thousand, maybe even a hundred thousand..." Annie answered.

"I've heard two hundred thousand," one of their friends called out.

"Of course, if we turn it into a _free_ concert, even more people will go," Benjie added.

Severus had difficulty trying to imagine even fifty thousand people together in one place. He'd heard his father say that many of the sports he listened to on the radio had tens of thousands of people attending, and even his mother had told him that the Quidditch World Cup very often had one hundred thousand attendees or more.

But he'd never attended anything like that. He just couldn't comprehend that many people gathered together in a relatively small space.

But he was tired, and there was just too much for his head to hold at the moment. Potions ingredients. His own wand. Hundreds of thousands of Muggles in one place. Muggles on the moon. Azalea kissing him. Twice.

He yawned.

"Yeah, me too," Angel stated, covering his own yawn. "Time to hit the sack."

DeWard had already started dozing off in Yesmina's lap. She gently shook him back awake, and stood up when Angel did and followed him towards the corner where the tent was set up.

Severus stood up to follow, but Azalea had resumed watching the TV. Severus looked at it, but there didn't seem to be anything happening.

"You coming, Azalea?" Angel called back to her. She sighed, and then stood up.

"Yeah, ain't nothin' happenin' now anyway!"

She looked at Severus and then slapped him on the back.

"We're on the _moon_, Sev!" she exclaimed, as they walked to the tent. "And we're goin' to Woodstock!"

She put her arm around his shoulders as they walked and gave him a hug. Severus hadn't seen Azalea this happy for this length of time since he'd met her.

They entered the tent, which had quilts, blankets, and pillows spread on the floor, along with what few possessions they all owned.

Each took their own designated pillow and blanket and lay down. DeWard fell asleep immediately, but the others stayed awake awhile longer, discussing their plans for the future, when they all knew they'd be living in outer space.

Angel was now determined to become an astronaut, and then a captain of his own ship like Captain Kirk on Star Trek.

Severus wondered about other life forms. Angel offered his opinion that yes, he believed that there _were_ other beings in space, because that is what they showed on Star Trek. Severus then said that he would find it very interesting to meet them (and privately wondered whether there were outer space wizards and witches).

Angel laughed and said that Severus could be his Science Officer, like Mr. Spock on Star Trek.

Azalea decided that she was going to become the first woman in space, so that she would then have the opportunity to open the first discos on the moon and on Mars. And maybe a chain of floating space station shopping malls with high fashion boutiques in them.

Yesmina stated that she would just be happy married to an astronaut and having babies on the moon. Or Mars. Or a space station outside of Saturn.. She thought that it would be very romantic to have a home where you could see the rings of Saturn.

Having talked themselves out, they drifted off to sleep. Severus retrieved Lily's flower from his duffel bag -- it was still slowly opening and closing -- and stared out a corner of the tent at the moon now setting over New Jersey, wondering just what it _would_ be like to have a home with the person you loved, where Saturn shone in your window.

He then drifted off to sleep like the others, each convinced of a bright future for each of them in the bright new space frontier.

* * *

_**Information regarding the Up Against The Wall Motherfuckers anarchist group, especially regarding their manifesto being turned into a song by Jefferson Airplane, and how the UAW/MF was responsible for cutting down the fences at Woodstock, can be found on Wikipedia by searching on the term "Up Against The Wall"**____**

* * *

** _

_Ah, you and me  
We should be together _

We are all outlaws in the eyes of Amerika  
In order to survive we  
Steal, cheat, lie,  
Forge, fuck, hide and deal  
We are obscene, lawless, hideous,  
Dangerous, dirty, violent,  
And young

But, we should be together,  
Come on all you people standing around  
Our life's too fine to let it die and  
We should be together.

All your private property is  
Target for your enemy,  
And your enemy  
Is we.

We are forces of chaos and anarchy.  
Everything they say we are, we are,  
And we are very  
Proud of ourselves.

Up against the wall!  
Up against the wall, motherfucker!  
Tear down the walls!  
Tear down the walls!

Come on now together!  
Get it on together!  
Everybody together!

  
WE CAN BE TOGETHER  
Jefferson Airplane


	7. Chapter 5 Hot Summertime Fun Aug 14 1969

_**

* * *

**__**In trying to expose, disrupt, and otherwise neutralize activities of the 'new left', the Bureau is faced with the rather unique task because first the 'new left' is actually difficult to define and second because of complete disregard of 'new left' members for moral and social laws and social amenities. It is believed that the non-conformism of in sic dress and speech, the neglect of personal cleanliness, the use of obscenities, printed and others, publicized sexual promiscuity, experiments with the use of drugs, filthy clothes, shaggy hair, wearing of sandals, beads, and unusual jewelry, tend to negate any attempt to hold these people up to ridicule.**_

**FBI memorandum  
****May 27, 1966

* * *

**

_When the Moon is in the Seventh House  
And Jupiter aligns with Mars  
Then peace will guide the planets  
And love will steer the stars _

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius  
The age of Aquarius  
Aquarius  
Aquarius

Harmony and understanding  
Sympathy and trust abounding  
No more falsehoods or derisions  
Golden living dreams of visions  
Mystic crystal revelation  
And the mind's true liberation...

Severus shifted on the 50-pound sack of oatmeal so that the sun wouldn't shine directly into his eyes, and accidentally knocked a bag of buckwheat onto a semi-dozing Angel.

"Sorry," he said softly so as not to wake the others, but he wasn't sure they were actually asleep.

"'This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius!'" Annie screeched along with the radio. "'Age of Aquarius...Ahh-kware-eeee-usss!!'"

Severus shifted on the sack again, grabbing a small sack of peanuts to use as a pillow. He saw Azalea looking at him, then glancing at Annie in the front seat, then looking back at him with a smirk, rolling her eyes.

"'Lehhttt the sun shiiiine'," Annie continued screaming. "Lehhttt the sun shine in...the suuunnn shine iinnn...'"

Bless Annie, Severus thought to himself, she was a great lady for taking them all in and taking care of them -- but she sounded like a scalded cat when she tried to sing.

"Are we there yet?" DeWard whined. He was sitting on a bag of barley.

"No, honey!" Annie called back to him. "It's slow going; there are a lot of other people coming to this concert!"

"I gotta pee!" Azalea muttered as she sat up.

"Told'j'ya not to drink all that soda back there," Angel mumbled, taking a bag of lentils and putting it over his head in an attempt to block out both light and sound.

"I ain't the _only_ one!" Azalea whispered vehemently, glaring at Angel's inattentive back. She then glared at Severus, who didn't say anything.

Angel had earlier given Severus a 'heads up' about not taking in too many liquids before starting out on their road trip up country, or when they subsequently stopped for something to eat shortly after finally getting out of the city.

But Azalea hadn't paid any heed, and was now paying the price. And Yesmina's sheepish look betrayed her lack of foresight, also.

"I gotta go to the bathroom!" DeWard loudly announced, revealing the fact that he had spent the afternoon and evening with the girls rather than with Angel and Severus.

"Oh brother!" Angel muttered, turning over and slapping the bag of lentils over the other side of his head. "I _told_ you so!"

"Yeah!" Annie exclaimed. "We girls need a pit stop!"

"I'm not a girl!" DeWard protested.

"No you're not, hon!" Annie laughed. "But three of us girls need to go!"

She gave Benjie, who was driving the minibus, a pointed look.

"And I think some _boys_ might like to take a break, too!?" she exclaimed.

"I'm actually fine, honey," Benjie answered, keeping his eyes on the road, particularly on a garishly painted school bus some yards in front of them.

This answer garnered Benjie one of Azalea's glares.

"I'm fine, too!" Angel mumbled from under the lentils.

Three sets of female eyes looked at Severus, Azalea's almost murderous. Severus decided to say nothing, and instead he looked through the window at the procession outside.

Cars were parked on either side of the road. The road itself was clogged with people walking to the concert site. Benjie had indicated that they were still some eight to ten miles from their destination. Because Annie and Benjie, along with their friends, were going to be helping out with the Free Kitchen at the concert, they were lucky to be allowed to park right at the festival site.

But the crowds of young people making their way to the concert on foot meant that their vehicle had slowed to a crawl...it was going to be some time yet before they made it to their final destination.

Severus didn't have the urgent need to answer Nature's call like the others had. But is was hot, especially stuck in the back of the VW minibus with their luggage (such as it was), Benjie and Annie's camping gear, cooking utensils, and dozens of bags of various dried food stuffs. He wouldn't mind an excuse to get out and stretch his legs and get a breath of fresh air.

"Honey!" Annie exclaimed to her husband. "It doesn't _matter_ if _you_ are okay! _I_ need to go! _And_ the kids! We can't wait!"

She laughed, then clutched her stomach.

"Oooh! She kicked hard that time!" Annie exclaimed.

Yesmina and Azalea leaned over Annie's the back of Annie's seat as if they thought they'd be able to see a little foot pressing out of Annie's stomach. When nothing more exciting happened, Azalea glared at Benjie.

"I gotta pee! Bad!" she exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. Benjie chuckled.

"Okay...okay," he answered, leaning forward to flick the minibus' lights on and off a couple of times.

The brake lights on the garish bus ahead of them flashed on and off a few times in response, then pulled as far to the right as possible and came to a stop. Benjie pulled in behind it and parked, then he jumped out and ran to the back of the vehicle to open the door for the children to get out.

There were vehicles already parked on either side of the street, so the garish school bus and the minibus now took up a good portion of the road, forcing all those who were walking towards the festival site to press into the narrow space remaining.

Benjie was yelling an explanation of why they had stopped to a few of his friends that had already gotten off of the school bus, stating that someone needed to go with the girls, but Azalea had already grabbed Yesmina's hand and had shoved their way through the crowd to a nearby stand of bushes.

Severus stood by the back of the bus, bemused by the exotic and colorful crowd of people passing by. Angel slid out the back of the minibus, rubbing his eyes, and then helped DeWard to get out.

"Hey!" they could hear Annie exclaiming from inside the minibus. "I need some help here!"

The pre-pregnant Annie would have had no problem being able to negotiate the narrow space between her side of the minibus and the cars parked on their side of the street. But the almost-8-month pregnant woman now could not get out of the passenger-side door.

Her solution to this dilemma was to lie down across both the passenger and driver's seats and attempt to push herself headfirst out the open driver's side door by pressing her feet on the closed passenger door. The steering wheel and the stick shift were making this attempt difficult at best.

Benjie had made his way up to the school bus and was talking to some friends, and so was unaware of his wife's predicament.

"Hey!?" Annie called out.

Severus and Angel went to her aid. They tried pulling on her arms and shoulders as she pushed her feet against the passenger door. This succeeded in moving her some inches, but when her feet could no longer reach the door, and the rise of her stomach reached the steering wheel, and the stick shift was pressing into her backside, all attempts to move her failed..

Annie was laughing hysterically. "Move the seat back, hon!" she told them. Angel adjusted the driver's seat, which freed Annie's pregnant stomach from the grip of the steering wheel, but didn't help to enable her to move out of the door. She tried pushing her feet against the dashboard, but couldn't get her butt over the stick shift.

"_Help!!"_ she cried out, still laughing.

A couple of guys who were walking by stopped.

"Can we help?" one of them asked.

"Yeah!" Annie laughed, sprawled across the front seats, her head hanging upside down out the driver's door. "I can't get out!"

The newcomers quickly assessed the situation, and one went over to the passenger side, opened the door, and squeezed through the opening. He lifted Annie's legs as his friend pulled from the driver's side, and managed to lift her over the stick shift and around the steering wheel. Finally Annie was able to get out and stand on her own.

"Thanks!" she exclaimed, still laughing. "I _did_ use to have a husband at one time! Don't know where he's gotten to!"

"No problem!" one of the young men said.

"Peace!" said the other one, flashing the peace sign as he rejoined his friend and they continued walking down the road.

"Where're the girls?" Annie asked Angel and Severus.

"Over behind those bushes," Angel answered, gesturing to a wide, dense strand of vegetation across the street.

"You okay, honey?" Benjie called out, jogging up to them.

"Oh yeah, now I am, thanks for parking so close to those cars and for sticking around to _help_ me!" Annie exclaimed. Even though she said it with a laugh, Severus could discern that her statement lacked the level of good humor she had been displaying just a few moments before.

"Help me get through this crowd to those bushes," she ordered Benjie. Severus watched as Benjie steered his wife like some heavy ship against the tide of humanity passing them, then disappeared behind the vehicles parked on the opposite side of the street.

"I gotta go, too!" DeWard yelled out, standing at the back of the minibus.

"I guess we'll take those bushes over there," Angel muttered, gesturing to a small group of vegetation on their side of the street.

He grabbed a bottle of water and some paper napkins from the back of the minibus, took DeWard by the hand, and walked over to the bushes. Severus followed.

As soon as they were behind the bushes, DeWard immediately set about taking care of his most pressing need, but something silver and shiny under one of the bushes caught Angel's eye.

Angel bent down and scooped up what turned out to be a packet composed of aluminum foil. He looked at Severus with a smirk and winked.

"What is it?" Severus asked. Angel just shook his head, slipped the packet under his shirt with one hand, and with the other held his index finger up to his lips.

"_Shhh_!" he admonished Severus. "Later. Just act cool, do what we gotta do, cuz y'don't know when we'll get another pit stop..."

Severus could never figure out why they all referred to the act of going to the bathroom when not at home as "a pit stop"...

Angel had them use the bottle of water to wash their hands and dry them with the napkins as they went back to the minibus. Azalea and Yesmina were already back, sitting off the back of the minibus singing with the radio that had been left on, but Annie and Benjie were nowhere around.

_That's when I had most of my fun, back  
High high high high there  
Them summer days, those summer days _

I Cloud Nine when I want to

Out of school, yeah

County fair in the country sun

And everything, it's true, ooh yeah

Hot fun in the summertime  
Hot fun in the summertime  
Hot fun in the summertime  
Hot fun in the summertime

Azalea did not miss the look on Angel's face of the-cat-that-ate-the-canary.

"What you up to?" she demanded.

Angel didn't answer, just smiled enigmatically, sat on the back of the minibus, and then shoved himself inside. Once ensconced on a sack of oatmeal, and making sure no outsiders were paying any particular attention to them, he quickly lifted part of his shirt to flash the aluminum package he was hiding there.

"Where you get that!?" Azalea demanded in a hoarse whisper.

"It was under those bushes," Angel answered, gesturing to where they had just come from.

"How much is there?" Yesmina asked.

"Don't know, didn't open it. Looks like a lot, by the size of it..."

"What is it?" Severus asked.

Angel looked around furtively.

"Weed," he whispered. "Most likely..."

"Most everyone here be trippin'!" Azalea exclaimed. "More than just weed, by the looks of it!"

"'Tripping'?" Severus asked.

"Yeah, trippin'!" Azalea answered. "They be taking one of those mental trips, y'know? Flyin' first class express via Trans Acid Airlines, y'know?"

Azalea tended to end many of her statements to Severus with "y'know?", but Severus rarely knew what she was talking about, and this time was no different.

"LSD," Angel explained, knowing that Severus rarely understood what Azalea was talking about. But Severus didn't understand Angel's answer, either.

"It's a drug," Yesmina added, seeing Severus' confused look. "It makes you see funny things when you take it."

"It mess you up!" Azalea exclaimed. "Make you act crazy!"

Severus was surprised at her vehemence; she almost sounded afraid.

"Have you ever used it?" he asked her.

"No!" she exclaimed. "I told you, it makes you crazy! Some people never stop being crazy after takin' that shit!"

"I have," Yesmina stated quietly.

Both Azalea and Angel stared at her, shocked. This was obviously a revelation they had never heard from Yesmina before.

"My mother gave me some a few years ago," Yesmina continued. "I think that's why they took me away and put me in foster care..."

"What was it like, Mina?" Angel whispered. It was obvious that Angel held this LSD/acid thing in awe.

"It's hard to explain," Yesmina answered, pulling DeWard to her and hugging him. "I remember I was watching TV...I think my mom put it in my soda...I'm not sure, cuz I didn't taste anything funny..."

"It don't have no taste, they say," Azalea stated quietly. Azalea rarely said anything quietly, so Severus knew this must be something important.

"So what happened?" Angel demanded.

"I'm not sure when the trip started...like I said, I was watching TV, and then stuff just got funny," Yesmina stated. "It's hard to explain. It was like suddenly the TV show had a taste and a smell. That wasn't bad. But then it looked like everything was melting, and that sort of scared me..."

She started swinging back and forth, still hugging DeWard. Angel and Azalea were gazing at her, transfixed. Severus was just curious.

"And then there were these people, except they weren't people, exactly..." Yesmina attempted to explain.

"What do you mean, Mina?" Angel prompted.

"I don't know!" Yesmina answered, clearly still confused about the experience. "They were sort of like people, but not really human...like I said, it's hard to explain. It was sort of like they were spirits..."

"Y'mean ghosts?" Azalea asked, obviously afraid. Severus had never seen Azalea afraid of anything, and found it curious that she was fearful of the spirits of the dead.

"No, not ghosts," Yesmina answered. "They were more like...like...I think more like what the real thing of something is..."

Angel and Azalea clearly did not comprehend what Yesmina was saying; but Severus' interest picked up.

He vaguely remembered his mother telling him something like that, about how all things had magickal properties, which one could tap into if one knew how and was talented enough. That was how a potion or a spell could become more than the sum of its parts.

"You mean it was like seeing the true nature of a thing," he stated, "the true essence manifesting itself in physical form."

They all stared at Severus.

"What _you_ be trippin' on?" Azalea demanded, before turning her attention back to Yesmina.

"Yeah, I think it _was_ something like that, Sev!" Yesmina admitted. "It was like everything has it's own spirit, and everything's connected. That wasn't too bad, either, just strange. They talked to me. I didn't understand most of what they said..."

"So what else happened, Mina?" Angel prompted when she trailed off.

"I'm not sure...I didn't know what time it was," she answered. "I mean, it was like there _was_ no time, time didn't exist anymore. I saw pretty things but I saw scary things, too. Things I can't explain, cuz there's just no way to explain it..."

She paused, as if searching for the right words, then gave up with a sigh.

"Anyway, last thing I remember is a bunch of birds, and then thinking I'm a bird, too, and I needed to fly away to join them, then next thing I knew I was standing on the ledge outside my bedroom window. Seven stories up. And it was a day later than what I remembered. There were a bunch of people and the police and the firemen down below. That's when I got taken away from my mom..."

Severus thought this sounded very interesting, but Angel stared at Yesmina with his mouth open, and Azalea just glared.

"I _told_ you that shit make you crazy!" she exclaimed. "Good thing you didn't stay crazy!"

Severus wasn't sure about that last point. Yesmina seemed very odd to him, but of course he hadn't known her before she had the experience of thinking she was a bird and could fly, so maybe she was no different after her experience than before it.

"Anyway," Azalea continued, turning back to Angel. "You keep that stuff outta sight until later…"

While Annie and Benjie's friends, and even Benjie himself, were rather fond of smoking pot, Annie did not approve of it being smoked in her presence because of the baby on it's way, nor did she approve of the children smoking.

As if on cue, Benjie returned with Annie waddling in his wake. She stood off to the side as the children returned to the back of the minibus. Benjie closed the back door, and then pulled the vehicle out onto the road a bit so that Annie could now open the passenger door and get in.

"Everyone okay back there!?" she asked as she hoisted herself onto the passenger seat.

The kids mumbled variations of affirmations, as Benjie cautiously pulled out onto the road, trying to avoid hitting the hundreds of people who were still arriving for the concert.

The rest of the journey occurred with no incident, other than it taking almost three hours to travel less than ten miles. They finally arrived at their destination as the sun was setting.

They were on the edge of the festival site itself. As Severus got out of the minibus he saw what looked to be a small village of tents already erected on the site by those who had gotten there early. There was a fence around the site that was already bent down in a few places…this presumably was the fence they had come to take down.

The sound of music drifted to them from the dozens of radios playing around the site, and Severus could hear hammering coming from what looked to be a stage off in the distance.

But where they were there was a much smaller stage, which Annie had told them was a "Free Stage", put up to provide entertainment for the thousands of people without tickets who were supposed to show up. This was adjacent to the "Free Kitchen" they would be helping to run, and something called a "Free School", which both Annie and Benjie had assured the children would be "fun", but none of the kids were convinced.

Someone was currently playing a flute-like instrument on the Free Stage, accompanied by someone banging on a set of bongo drums.

Severus kept turning around, trying to take it all in. Adjacent to the Free Kitchen/Stage/School was an area where people were selling items like jewelry, clothing, and handmade decorations. Annie stated that if she'd known, she'd have brought some of her tie-dyed creations, but then Benjie pointed out that that would have been in direct opposition to their professed anarchic beliefs that the whole thing should be free…

Azalea, Yesmina, and DeWard ran off to check out what was for sale. Annie waddled off to the Free Kitchen to let them know that they'd arrived, and Benjie drove the minibus behind it to have it unloaded, and then enlisted Angel and Severus in helping him to set up their own tent a little behind the Free Stage and adjacent to the area where the Free School was to be conducted.

After the tent was erected, Benjie hung one of Annie's tie-dyed sheets from the side of the minibus, and attached two poles to the other end of it to create a place to be able to sit in the shade. He then hung some more tie-dyed sheets from two of the sides, and had the boys finally place the quilts and blankets and pillows that they had used on the roof back in the city on the ground under the canopy.

It all actually resulted in a rather cozy arrangement; now that the minibus was mostly cleared out, it provided a place to sleep in addition to the tent, and the canopy provided a place to sit without being subject to the sun's direct glare.

The girls and DeWard returned just as they were finishing. All three were wearing beaded necklaces and beaded and feathered strands in their hair, and someone had painted flowers and a peace sign on DeWard's face.

"Great timing!" Angel muttered. Yesmina looked guilty, but Azalea ignored him and threw herself onto one of the quilts under the canopy.

"Look what we got!" she exclaimed, fishing items out of her large bag.

She tossed a variety of beaded necklaces onto the quilt, a dozen or so buttons with various sayings, and a couple more of the beaded/feathered hair strands. Angel took a closer look at those.

"What _are_ these?" he demanded, taking a close look at the clip end.

"You wear them in your hair!" Azalea answered, demonstrating the couple she had in her own hair.

Angel looked at her skeptically.

"Of course," she laughed, "those clips can come in mighty handy for _other_ purposes, too!"

Yesmina sat down and picked up one of the hair clips.

"We got extra for you and Angel," she said, offering the clip to Severus, who took it questioningly.

"You expect _us_ to wear this!?" Angel demanded. Yesmina looked crestfallen.

"Lot's of guys are wearing them!" she explained. "Look at DeWard…"

But DeWard had taken his off and was now swinging them in mad circles over his head.

"Well I ain't wearin' it in _my_ hair!" Angel answered, clipping the ornament to the edge of his tee-shirt instead.

Severus stared at the one he was holding. Yesmina looked ready to cry, but she usually looked like she was about to cry. But Azalea was looking at him expectantly, as if _she_ really wanted to see him wear it in his hair. He obliged, clipping it to the left side of his head.

"How does this look?" he asked. Yesmina looked like she now wouldn't cry; Azalea laughed.

"Here, you need this!" she exclaimed, grabbing a couple of the beaded necklaces and putting them over Severus' head. One of the necklaces had an Egyptian ankh suspended from it. Yesmina picked up a button and pinned it on Severus' shirt. It stated just one word, "Love".

The girls assessed their work with satisfied looks. DeWard stopped spinning his hair ornaments and stared at Severus with narrowed eyes. Angel just snorted and stated, "You look like a real hippie now!"

Severus wasn't sure if Angel approved or not. But Severus had wanted to become a hippie, so he was glad that the girls had helped him to achieve that.

"Thank you," he said to them. Azalea just laughed and lay back on the quilt. Yesmina looked extremely happy.

By this time it was almost dark. Benjie came over and told them that they all could get something to eat at the Free Kitchen, which the children rushed to.

Inside Annie was ensconced on a stool, ladling something out to those who brought bowls to her. There were a few other workers also ladling out items. The children got in line behind a short queue.

The only thing Severus recognized when it was plopped into his bowl was some broccoli; the rest was some unrecognizable "something". While Azalea didn't say anything, Severus could see that she was somewhat less than happy with what was being served.

Their last stop in the queue was at Annie's station; she ladled a portion of tomato sauce over what was in their bowls.

"Hi, kids!" she exclaimed. "It's not _my_ sauce, but it's not bad! How're you all doing?"

She looked at Severus.

"Fine," he answered.

"What _is_ this shit!?" Azalea asked her in a hoarse whisper.

"Oh, honey!" Annie exclaimed. "Ya got broccoli and that brown stuff is barley with lentils, and the tan stuff is brown rice with wheat germ, and the square thing is fried tofu!"

As far as Azalea was concerned, Annie could have just said that they were being served cat droppings.

"It's really good!" Annie tried to assure her. "And this meat sauce is pretty good. Like I said, not quite as good as mine, but pretty good. Give it a try!"

The children went back to the minibus with their dinner, and sat under the canopy. All except Severus pushed the food around in their bowls, as if expecting to find something even more disgusting hidden in it.

"Don't these people ever make _good_ food?" Azalea demanded. "Why can't they make fried chicken…my granny makes a whole mess o' fried chicken whenever a crowd shows up at her place! And fried greens…" she added wistfully.

"Fried plantain…" Yesmina added. "You ever have that? It's really good…"

"Yeah!" Angel interjected. "_My_ grandmother makes that!"

"French fries!" DeWard exclaimed.

"And barbecue!" Azalea continued. "Granny does a whole mess o'ribs, fall apart in your _hands_! Melts in yo' mouth!"

"Even some rice and beans!" Angel added. "A decent batch of rice and beans…"

"Pizza…" DeWard whined.

Severus was silent. He was too busy eating.

"It's not bad," he stated, taking a pause from shoveling the food into his mouth. "Annie's correct, the sauce isn't bad. And they put some sort of spice in the barley lentil thing, also in whatever they coated the fried tofu with. The rice doesn't have much taste, though, and the broccoli is, well, broccoli…"

He went back to eating. The others stared at him as if he had suddenly lost his mind. They continued to push their food around with their plastic sporks, then each eventually took tentative tastes of each item.

The general consensus was that Severus was correct, that the sauce was okay, and that even the "lentil barley thing" and the fried tofu were palatable. There were mixed opinions, though, regarding the broccoli, and no one liked the rice.

As they were finishing eating, Benjie came out to collect their plastic sporks and paper bowls. He stressed that they needed to be aware of the environment and not pollute it. He then told them that there was milk and soda available inside the kitchen, which the children gratefully rushed to take advantage of.

"What should we do now?" Severus asked, as they all stood outside the kitchen, surveying their surroundings.

"Go check this place out!" Angel answered, popping the tab on his soda can and throwing it on the ground besides him. Yesmina helped DeWard open his carton of chocolate milk, letting the straw wrapper fall to the ground.

"Yeah!" Azalea agreed, tossing her own soda tab to the ground.

As they set out, Severus popped the tab on his own can of soda, but rather than throwing it away, he stooped down and picked up the two that lay on the ground. He then bent the tab of one through the ring of another, making a chain of three tabs. He then bent one of the tabs over the collar of his shirt, and then ran to catch up with the others.

"Why you do that?" Azalea demanded, noticing the short metal chain hanging from Severus' collar.

"Dunno," he answered. "Sort of looks like chain mail…"

"You gonna need a shitload of those things t'make a chain mail shirt!" Azalea laughed.

Severus bent down and picked up two tab tops he saw glinting in the grass.

"Looks like this is the place to do it!" he laughed. Azalea laughed even harder, which made Severus even happier.

There really wasn't much to see. Most of the people who were already there were partying at their tents, or else making love. Severus was quite surprised when the others told him what those couples were doing, and he would have liked to have gotten a closer look. But Angel just grabbed him by the arm and yanked him away, asking him what was wrong with him, and the girls looked at him like he was crazy.

But he was curious. He'd never seen something like that before, but the others made it clear that it wasn't something that he should be looking at. But if that were true, he pointed out to them, then why were those people doing it in public where everyone _could_ see it?

No one had an answer for him. But by that time they had gone by the stage area, which was still frantically being put together even at that hour, and had then gone into a wooded area, where again there were amorous couples to avoid.

They found a place near a lake where there was no one else close by, and where a large rock blocked them from close scrutiny, and which they proceeded to sit next to. Angel then pulled the foil packet from under his shirt, and Azalea retrieved a packet containing small pieces of paper from her bag. She used these to expertly roll the bits of green herb in the packet into cigarettes. She folded most of the cigarettes back into the foil packet and put it into her bag, but kept a couple of what she referred to as "joints" out for them to smoke.

She used her lighter to light up the first one, took a puff, then passed it to Angel who, after his turn, passed it to Severus who then gave it to Yesmina and DeWard after he had taken a drag.

The joint continued around the circle as each took what Angel had told Severus was a "toke", and they got sillier with each round. The others teased Severus about wanting to watch people having sex.

"But it looks so _stupid_!" he laughed. "I don't believe it, that _that_ is how babies are made!"

It was his turn to take a drag, which he did and then passed it on.

"I mean," he continued, laughing, "you are saying that _that_ is what Annie and Benjie did? _That's_ how she became pregnant?"

Severus suddenly became very serious.

"What is it, Sev?" Yesmina asked. He took a close look at each one of them, and then fell over, laughing hysterically. This got everyone else laughing hysterically, too.

"No!" Severus gasped. "No! There's no way! What you are saying means that _that_ is what your parents did to get _you_! Merlin's Ghost! You are saying _my_ own parents did _that_? No! Impossible!"

"That's the way it works, English Boy!" Azalea laughed. "No other way to do it!"

"No! No! No! No!" Severus laughed, rolling from side to side and clutching his stomach because it hurt so much from laughing.

"Azalea's right, Magic Man," Angel added, "that's how babies is get made…"

"Nooooo!" Severus gasped. "Nooooo! NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNO!"

He giggled hysterically.

By this time the joint had gotten so small, that it was difficult to hold. Azalea took one of her hair clips off, and used the clip end to hold what they called "the roach". Severus thought that it was also hysterically funny.

"You laugh now, Magic Man," Azalea stated after taking a toke and passing it to Angel. "But that's what you gonna do when you fall in love wid someone…!"

Angel snorted, but said nothing, taking a drag and passing it to Severus who sat up and decided to use one of the tab tops he'd picked up to wear as a ring, placing the roach in the curled tab part, to the delight of the others.

"No way!" Severus asserted, taking a drag and then passing it to Yesmina, who had stayed strangely quiet through this whole conversation.

"No way!" Severus repeated. "I'm _never_ doing _that_! It's…it's…it's, well, it's too _undignified_!"

Both Azalea and Angel screamed with laughter.

"Well, it _is_!" Severus exclaimed.

Azalea took a toke and passed it to Angel.

"You come talk to me in a couple o'years!" she laughed. "I will be singing you the I-Told-You-So song!"

"NoNoNoNoNo!" Severus exclaimed. "It will never happen!"

"But things will be different when you fall in love with someone," Yesmina finally spoke. "Then you will WANT to be with them that way…"

Both Angel and Azalea snorted at that comment. But Severus suddenly thought of Lily. No! No way! He loved Lily, and he could never imagine doing _that_ with her!

With a pang he realized that he had left her flower back in the minibus in his duffle bag. He wished he had it with him right now.

Azalea lit another joint, and the others started talking about what musical performers were scheduled to start playing the next night. But Severus became very introspective and didn't take part in their conversation. He felt guilty that he'd actually forgotten about Lily. And his mother. He needed to find a couple of owls and get a message to each of them. But then he remembered that Angel had told him that owls wouldn't be able to make it across the Atlantic Ocean.

He had so much to tell them. He wondered when he would be able to.

Finally it was time to go back. DeWard had fallen asleep, so Severus lifted him onto his back and carried him piggyback-style back to their camp.

The original plan had been for Annie and Benjie to sleep in their tent, and the children to use the minibus and canopy. But when they got back they found Benjie asleep in the tent and Annie asleep in the minibus. The children ended up sleeping outside under the canopy like they had done most of the time back in the city.

The first thing Severus did after placing DeWard carefully on some blankets was to quietly retrieve his duffle bag from the minibus, avoiding waking Annie. He took off his hair clips and necklaces and Love button and the beginning of his chain mail shirt and carefully laid it all in a pile next to him. He then retrieved Lily's flower from his duffle bag.

It was still opening and closing, but much more slowly than it had when Lily had first charmed it. Severus stared at it for a few minutes, and then placed it carefully on top of the small pile of necklaces and hair clips. He then placed the button Yesmina had given him next to Lily's flower so that the word "Love" was clearly visible.

He lay there gazing at the two symbols of love, and drifted off to sleep as Marvin Gaye serenaded them from someone's nearby radio.

_I ain't got time  
To think about money  
Or what it can buy  
And I ain't got time  
To sit down and wonder  
What makes the birdies fly  
And I don't have the time  
To think about what makes the flowers grow  
And I never give it a second thought  
To where the rivers flow _

Too busy thinking about my baby  
And I ain't got time to nothing else  
Too busy thinking about my baby  
And I ain't got time to nothing else

I ain't got time to discuss the weather  
Or how it's gonna last  
And I ain't got time to do no studying  
Once I get out of class  
And I'm just a fellow  
I got a one track mind  
And when it comes to  
Thinking about anything about my baby  
I just don't have the time

Too busy thinking about my baby  
And I ain't got time to nothing else  
Too busy thinking about my baby  
And I ain't got time to nothing else

All the diamonds and pearls in the world  
Could never match her worth  
She's some kind of wonderful  
People tell you  
I've got heaven right here on earth  
And I'm just a fellow  
With a one track mind  
And when it comes to thinking about  
Anything but my baby  
I just don't have the time

Too busy thinking about my baby  
And I ain't got time to nothing else  
Too busy thinking about my baby  
And I ain't got time to nothing else

TOO BUSY THINK ABOUT MY BABY  
Marvin Gaye  
1969

* * *

_When the moon is in the Seventh House  
And Jupiter aligns with Mars  
Then peace will guide the planets  
And love will steer the stars_

_This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius  
The age of Aquarius  
Aquarius! Aquarius!_

_Harmony and understanding  
Sympathy and trust abounding  
No more falsehoods or derisions  
Golden living dreams of visions  
Mystic crystal revelation  
And the mind's true liberation  
Aquarius! Aquarius!_

_Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in  
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in  
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in_

_Oh, let it shine, c'mon  
Now everybody just sing along  
Let the sun shine in  
Open up your heart and let it shine on in  
When you are lonely, let it shine on  
Got to open up your heart and let it shine on in  
And when you feel like you've been mistreated  
And your friends turn away  
Just open your heart, and shine it on in  
_

AQUARIUS/LET THE SUN SHINE IN  
The Fifth Dimension  
1969

_

* * *

_

_End of the spring and here she comes back  
Hi Hi Hi Hi there  
Them summer days, those summer days_

_That's when I had most of my fun, back_

_High high high high there  
Them summer days, those summer days_

_I Cloud Nine when I want to_

_Out of school, yeah_

_County fair in the country sun_

_And everything, it's true, ooh yeah_

_Hot fun in the summertime  
Hot fun in the summertime  
Hot fun in the summertime  
Hot fun in the summertime_

_First of the fall and then she goes back  
Bye bye bye bye there  
Them summer days, those summer days_

_Boop-boop-ba-boop-boop when I want to_

_Out of school, yeah_

_County fair in the country sun_

_And everything, it's true, ooh yeah_

_Hot fun in the summertime  
Hot fun in the summertime  
Hot fun in the summertime  
Hot fun in the summertime  
_

HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME  
Sly and the Family Stone  
1969


	8. Chapter 6 Games People Play Aug 15 1969

_**Save my love through loneliness  
Save my love for sorrow  
I've given you my onlyness  
Come give me your tomorrow. **_

_**If I worked my hands in wood,  
Would you still love me?  
Answer me babe, "Yes I would,  
I'll put you above me...**_

-

Severus rolled over and yawned. Someone was singing about being a carpenter, and sure enough, there was the steady banging in the distance of hammers on wood.

He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but the brightness of the light coming through his eyelids told him that it was well into Friday morning, and the warmth that he felt told him that it was going to be a hot day.

It got much hotter here, and more humid, than he was used to at home; it made it even more difficult to keep his hair clean and neat.

He lay there, listening to the song on the record player and the hammers banging and the many, many voices surrounding him. Something buzzed nearby, a fly or perhaps a bee, he couldn't tell which. Then the strong smell of banana oil made him open his eyelids and look around.

He seemed to be all alone under the canopy; he looked around, and saw Azalea sitting in the open side door of the minibus blowing on her fingertips, a bottle of Day-Glo pink nail polish beside her.

"Everyone's gone for breakfast," she explained. "You better hurry if you want any." She continued to blow on her fingers.

Severus sat up, pulling his duffle bag to him.

"Why aren't you having breakfast?" he asked, opening the bag and rummaging inside of it.

"I decided to wait for you," she admitted, which caused Severus to pause and look up at her.

"_And_ do my nails," she added, waving both hands in the air to aid in drying said nails.

"Like the color?" she demanded, holding her nails out for Severus' inspection.

"Uh, yeah," he lied, "it's pretty. Very bright."

"Besides," Azalea continued, "I ain't in no rush to eat any more of that shit we had last night!"

Severus pulled out two pairs of jeans he'd gotten from the Free Store back in the city. One was embroidered with flowers and peace signs. The other was hand painted in bright Day-Glo colors in various symbols, words, and wild designs. He held up both pairs.

"Which one should I wear today?" he asked.

"Do those!" Azalea exclaimed, pointing to the painted pair. "They match my polish!"

Severus thought that the bright colors looked much better on the jeans than on Azalea's fingertips, but said nothing.

He stuffed the embroidered jeans back into the duffle bag, and then rummaged some more before pulling out an embroidered denim shirt -- another Free Store acquisition -- and his old smock shirt, now gaily tie-dyed courtesy of Annie.

"That one!" Azalea called out, pointing to the smock, even before Severus had had a chance to ask.

He put the denim shirt away, and rummaged some more, before pulling out another tie-dyed item, which he kept balled up in his fist.

"You have to turn around," he told Azalea.

"Why?" she demanded. Severus' eyes opened wide in exasperation.

"Azalea!" he retorted. "Turn around!"

Why did she seem so dense, he wondered.

"You ain't got nothin' I haven't seen before, boy!" Azalea laughed, as she continued to stare at Severus, almost taunting him.

Severus heaved a deep sigh and glared at Azalea.

"Okay!" she acquiesced, laughing and turning to face away from him, towards the front of the minibus.

Severus quickly removed the pants he was wearing and then his knickers, which he immediately stuffed into his duffle before putting on a clean pair of tie-dyed knickers, then the gaily painted jeans.

He kept glancing over in Azalea's direction, but she didn't move, just sat with a slight smirk on her face, seemingly staring at nothing. But when he had changed his shirt, she suddenly turned and grabbed his bag before he had a chance to protest.

Azalea quickly pawed through the bag, pulled out a brown suede fringed vest, and tossed it at Severus.

"Here, wear this...it's pretty," she told him.

Severus obliged, and then started to sort through the pile of jewelry he'd stacked next to him the night before.

He made sure that he put Lily's flower in his vest pocket, but before he could do anything else, Azalea had come over, sat behind him, and started to comb his hair.

This was a pleasant surprise that Severus was in no rush to end, so he just sat and allowed Azalea to continue.

"Your hair's long enough you could pull it back and wear it in a ponytail if you want," she observed.

Severus' hair had indeed grown about two inches since he'd arrived in America, and was now brushing his shoulders.

"Maybe later," he stated. He didn't want Azalea to stop touching and combing his hair.

"You need to wash yo' hair!" Azalea exclaimed, breaking the mood.

"I know," Severus moaned. "I _always_ need to wash my hair..."

"Later we can go by that lake and wash," Azalea decided, getting up and going into the minibus, coming back out a minute later with a couple of towels and a bar of soap, which she stuffed into her bag.

"Here," she said, kneeling behind Severus with a cotton kerchief. She folded it diagonally until it was only an inch wide, and then tied it around Severus' forehead. This definitely helped to keep his greasy hair off of his face.

Azalea then took Severus' beaded hair clip with the feathers on it, and clipped it to his hair under the headband, letting the beaded strands and feathers blend in with his hair. She then put all of his necklaces around his neck, as Severus pinned the "Love" button onto his vest pocket where Lily's flower lay.

Azalea appraised her handiwork with an air of satisfaction, and then looked at Severus' bare feet.

"What you wearin' on yo' feet?" she demanded. Severus just stared at them.

"I dunno," he finally admitted. "Maybe nothing. I noticed yesterday a lot of people didn't have shoes on..."

"Oh no you don't!" Azalea exploded. "You don't start bein' trashy like that!"

Severus had noticed before that Azalea had a strange aversion to going barefoot, both for herself and for her friends.

"Wear those sandals you got at the store," she ordered him. "You'll have something on your feet, and they won't be too hot..."

Severus grabbed his duffle bag and brought it into the minibus, where he had left his sandals. He put them on, and then he scooted back to the side door of the minibus, but paused as he was about to get out.

From this position he could see that when Azalea had been sitting there and supposedly looking away when he was changing, that she would have been able to watch him by looking in the rearview mirror.

_Had _she watched him? She hadn't indicated that she had. But she _did_ seem to know when he'd finished.

He turned to look at her, but she had already left the canopied area and was waiting for him out in the sunlight.

"Why you so red?" she demanded as he joined her.

"I dunno," he mumbled, so embarrassed and angry that he was close to tears. He said nothing more as they headed to the kitchen. But just before they entered, Azalea suddenly stopped and gave him a big hug.

"Come on!" she exclaimed, taking her arms from around Severus and pushing a flap of the tent aside. "Let's see what shit they got!" Severus stood there a moment as Azalea disappeared into the Free Kitchen.

Azalea could be scary crazy sometimes, he thought as he pushed the flap aside and went in.

There were a lot of adults doing things in the actual kitchen; Severus could see Annie sitting on a stool, stirring a pot of what he was sure must be her famous spaghetti sauce.

Angel, Yesmina, and DeWard were sitting at a table by the front entrance with a few other children, mostly empty plates and bowls in front of them. Azalea was striding purposefully towards them.

"What you eatin'?" she demanded, hands on her hips.

"Hello to you, too," Angel responded, sipping a carton of milk and wiping his plate with some toast.

As Severus walked up to the table, they heard Annie calling out.

"Hey! Azalea! Severus! Come on, I saved some breakfast for you!"

Azalea turned from Annie and looked at the empty plates and bowls on the table.

"What they give you?" she whispered.

"It was good, Azalea," Yesmina answered. "They have eggs and toast and oatmeal..."

"Why no one come tell me!" Azalea exclaimed indignantly, turning on her heel and stalking over to where the food was being served.

Everyone at the table stared at Severus.

"Severus looks like an _Indian_!" DeWard exclaimed. Severus wasn't sure whether that was a good thing to look like or not, but the unknown kids at the table were looking at him without sneering, and Yesmina looked him up and down with a smile. Angel just smirked and emptied his milk carton.

"You better go get something to eat before Miss Princess takes it all," he told Severus.

"Thanks," Severus answered, and as he turned and went to get some breakfast, he heard Yesmina telling the others at the table, "He's our friend...he's _English_!"

The others then went "_Ooooh_!", obviously impressed. A slight smile spontaneously appeared on Severus' lips; apparently just being English made one popular here, and being English _and_ looking like an Indian was seemingly particularly impressive.

"Well don't you look nice today!" Annie exclaimed as he lined up behind Azalea, taking a paper plate and scooping what was left of some scrambled eggs out of a pan.

"What about _me_?" Azalea demanded, holding out one hand and waving her fingertips.

"You look nice too, honey!" Annie exclaimed, putting some bread into a toaster. "Would either of you like some oatmeal?"

She gestured to a pot that had some congealed oatmeal clinging to the bottom.

"No thanks," Severus answered.

"Just _'nice'_!?" Azalea demanded.

Annie looked back at her, momentarily startled, and then laughed.

"You look mighty pretty today, too, Azalea! You _both_ do..."

Azalea looked very satisfied that both she and Severus were considered pretty. Severus was thinking that he'd rather be considered handsome than pretty, but that pretty was better than not pretty.

"_I_ dressed him!" Azalea announced proudly.

"No you didn't!" Severus exclaimed, mortified.

"Well, I _helped_ you dress!" Azalea retorted.

"No you _didn't_!" Severus responded.

"I helped you pick out yo' clothes!" she argued, slamming down her plate and glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

Severus slammed his plate down and mimicked Azalea's stance.

"That's _not_ the _same_!" he shouted.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Annie interrupted, waving a serving spoon at them. "It doesn't _matter_!"

Azalea and Severus continued to glare at each other, and then turned away when the toaster bell rang and four slices of whole grain toast popped up. Annie buttered the toast for them.

"You kids shouldn't fight!" she exclaimed. "The whole meaning of this weekend is peace and love!"

"I thought it was to hear music," Azalea grumbled. At least we're agreeing on something, Severus thought.

"Well that too, honey!" Annie answered. "And it's an art festival, too. But the whole purpose is for people to get together in peace and harmony and to love one another..."

She put two pieces of toast on each of their plates, then picked the plates up and handed them to Azalea and Severus with a big smile.

"So try not to fight, huh?" she added, handing them each a carton of milk and a straw. "We're all on this planet together, remember? Each of us has to look out for one another..."

Azalea and Severus took their plates and milk as Annie gave them one last big smile, then waddled back to her stool to resume stirring her sauce.

Severus glanced up at Azalea, who for once not only was silent but also seemed lost in thought. Something Annie said must have hit home.

They walked back to the table where the others were sitting. Angel was staring at them, and seemed to have watched the whole altercation between Azalea and Severus.

Azalea took a seat by herself at the end of the table, but close by Yesmina and DeWard. Severus sat down next to Angel at the other end of the table, opposite the unknown kids.

"Now you know what _I_ put up with before you came!" Angel whispered hoarsely in Severus' ear.

Severus glanced over at Azalea as he slowly opened his carton of milk. She had opened a bottle of catsup that was on the table, and was holding the bottle upside down over her eggs, furiously banging on the bottom. Severus thought that she looked like she might cry.

Why was _she_ so upset, he wondered.

Yesmina was looking at Azalea, too, but not saying anything. She glanced over at Severus with a sad look, but for once, she was not the one who looked ready to burst into tears.

Severus studied his plate of eggs, and took a tentative bite before glancing back at Azalea. She had finally succeeded in getting some catsup onto her eggs, and was now angrily shoveling them into her mouth when she wasn't angrily biting off pieces of her toast.

"Hey, don't sweat it!" Angel whispered into Severus' ear. "She gets like that sometimes...a lot, actually..."

Severus glanced over at Angel, taking a bite of toast followed by a sip of milk.

"Why?" Severus asked, after he had swallowed. Angel shrugged.

"Who knows? Girls are like that, especially when they get older."

"Crazy?" Severus inquired. Angel chuckled.

"Well, that too!" he answered. "But I meant moody. They can be moody. Especially Azalea. She gets _real_ moody sometimes!"

"Is there anything we can do?" Severus asked, taking another glance at Azalea before turning back to his own breakfast. "Is there any sort of cure for it?"

Angel guffawed, causing everyone else at the table to look at him. Even Azalea glanced at him before returning to staring at her plate as she continued eating.

"If only it was that easy!" Angel whispered in Severus' ear. "There ain't no cure for it! Some girls just crazier and moodier than others, and Azalea's about the craziest and moodiest there is!"

"I _know_ yo' be _talkin_' 'bout me down there!" Azalea suddenly screamed, banging her fists on the table. Her head was still lowered, but she was glowering at Angel and Severus.

Yesmina glanced from Azalea to the boys with panic on her face. DeWard, caught between the two girls. started to inconspicuously slide down his seat in an attempt to escape under the table. The other kids didn't say anything.

Severus stared at Azalea with his mouth open; he wasn't sure whether he should say anything or not. But Angel just stared at her with a smirk, which made things worse.

"_FUCK! YOU!"_she screamed, standing up and throwing her paper plate and what was left of her eggs at Angel and Severus, before turning and running out of the front of the tent with a sob.

Yesmina glanced back at the boys, then grabbed both her bag and Azalea's, and ran out after her. DeWard popped up from under the table next to Angel.

"Is it safe?" he asked. Angel chuckled and patted him on the back.

"For now, Big D, for now," he answered.

Severus still had his mouth open.

"You'll be catching flies if you don't watch out," Angel told him.

"Huh?" Severus asked, startled out of his reverie. He turned to look at the front of the tent. "Maybe I should go after her and apologize..."

"Only if you crazy as her," DeWard stated, squeezing in on the seat between Severus and Angel. Severus just stared at him.

"Listen, with Azalea you never can tell what she's gonna do," Angel explained. "You apologizing _might_ make it better, but it just as likely make it worse..."

As Severus took another bite of toast, Angel leaned forward and whispered, "Remember, I _said_ it's a _girl_ thing! They get moody. 'Specially certain times of the month..."

Severus paused with a forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth. "Certain times of the month"?

Was Azalea a werewolf? He made a note to himself to check tonight what phase the moon was in, and if it was full, he vowed to himself to stay awake to see if Azalea turned into a wolf. If she _was_ a werewolf, that could explain her periodic bouts of sudden viciousness.

But Angel had stressed that it was a "girl thing"...were girls more prone to lycanthropy than boys? He couldn't remember his mother ever saying anything to him on the subject.

"What was _that_ all about?" a boy sitting across from them asked.

"That's the crazy girl I told you we with," Angel answered. "This is my friend, Sev, he's..."

"From England," the other boy interrupted, laughing. "Yeah, we heard!"

He was about 12 or 13 years old with light brown hair that covered his forehead and ears, and spilled down his neck. He wore a headband similar to Severus', jeans, and a denim vest that was open to reveal his bare chest. He was extremely tan.

"My name's Steve." he stated, offering his right hand to Severus, who just sat there until Angel nudged him and nodded his head towards Steve. Severus then understood he was expected to shake Steve's hand, and so he did.

"This is my little sister, Dawn," he continued, indicating the little girl of about six with blond ringlets sitting next to him. "We're from Indiana..."

"They're farmers," Angel added.

"Well, my family helps run a cooperative organic farm," Steve stated.

"Where's Indiana?" Severus asked, not wanting to reveal that he had no idea what a cooperative organic farm was.

"It's in the Midwest," Steve answered. When he saw Severus' blank expression, he added, "It's to the west from here...well, a little southwest, to be exact..."

"He don't know!" Angel laughed. "He don't know nothin' about 'merica..."

"Hi!" a girl sitting next to Dawn interrupted.

She was about 10 or 11, and she had long, straight black hair. She wore a floppy hat much like Yesmina's, but with a beaded headband around its brim, and buttons with various political statements pinned to it.

She wore a long cotton dress in an African print that ended at her bare feet, and granny glasses that were tinted yellow.

"My name is Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly," she stated. "I'm from Los Angeles. My old man and lady run an underground paper there..."

Severus shook her hand, even though she hadn't offered, and decided not to ask why someone would have a business under the ground. Or why she had three names, and which one of them she might prefer to be called.

"What's that chick's hang up, man?" Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly asked. "Like, it's a drag to cop an attitude and just split. It's a bummer to, like, give off bad vibes, especially at a far out happening like this. You dig it?"

Severus finished his toast and milk, trying to determine what language this girl was speaking. But Angel seemed to understand it.

"Azalea's okay," he explained. "She just gets wacky sometimes. It'll pass..."

"Oh, wow!" Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly exclaimed. "I guess it's just her bag to be uptight? That's not my scene, dig? Like, peace and harmony and love one another is where it's at, man!"

"There's too much anger and hate in the world as it is," Steve added.

"Right on!" Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly exclaimed. "I mean, do your own thing, but freakin' out is a bad trip, ya dig?"

Severus was still trying to figure out what this girl was saying when she took Dawn's hand with her left, and reached her right hand over the table and took Severus'.

"We need to change the vibes," she announced, closing her eyes. "Everyone hold hands and close your eyes and chant '_Aum_'..."

Dawn took hold of her brother's hand, but he and Angel just smirked at each other. Severus and DeWard just looked confused.

"_Aaauuumm._.." Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly started. She opened her eyes and looked around.

"Oh, wow! Like, we _really_ need to do this!" she complained. "Like, that chick really needs our help, man!"

"Her name's Azalea!" Angel interjected.

"Yeah!" DeWard added.

"Okay, we're cool, man!" Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly soothed. "Don't get uptight. But we really need to do this if you want to help Azalea, dig? Just take each other's hand, close your eyes, chant 'Aum', and send love to Azalea, man..."

The boys looked at each other. Dawn smiled at DeWard, who smiled back. Angel and Steve both shrugged at the same time, and then Steve reached over for Angel's hand at the same time Angel took DeWard's hand, who then took Severus' free hand.

Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly closed her eyes again and started chanting "_Aaauuummm_" Dawn closed her eyes and joined in. The boys smirked at each other, and then Steve shrugged and closed his eyes and began chanting.

Angel looked from Steve to DeWard and then to Severus. The three of them fought the urge to break out laughing.

"I guess it can't hurt," Angel whispered, closing his eyes. "_Aaauuummm_..."

Severus and DeWard looked at each other, each wondering who should start first. Severus shrugged, thinking that perhaps Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly was right, that this couldn't hurt, and perhaps could even help in some way.

It seemed to be some sort of odd Muggle magick, but if it could help make Azalea have a better mood, he'd be glad to give it a try. He closed his eyes and started chanting, concentrating on sending peace, love, and harmony to Azalea. Or at the very least, peace.

The odd thing was, after a minute or two of chanting, Severus himself started feeling very relaxed and peaceful. And connected. Suddenly he didn't feel so isolated anymore. He not only felt connected to Angel and DeWard, but to Azalea and Yesmina and to these kids he'd just met.

In fact, he realized that he was connected to everyone at the festival...actually, to everyone. Everywhere. To people he had never met and probably never would. But they were still connected and related, all brothers and sisters.

"Oh, you're all meditating!" came Annie's familiar voice, jarring them all out of their collective trance. "How sweet!"

She'd waddled over with a paper bag to collect their trash, and to hand them another bag filled with juice and soda.

"Thought you'd all like these," she announced, plopping the bag with the drinks down on the table and then swooping up the trash. "The Free School's starting in a few minutes, you all head over there...we'll be really busy all day, so you all just amuse yourselves and we'll see you tonight..."

With that, Annie waddled back into the kitchen.

"It's time to split, then, man," Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly announced, standing up. "I hear this Free School is outta sight, a real gas. In fact, my old lady and man are supposed to do something there this afternoon..."

They all filed to the tent's entrance, Angel carrying the bag of beverages. Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly looked Severus up and down.

"Those are some bad threads, man!" she announced.

"Bad?" Severus demanded. "What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing, man!" Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly answered. "They're far out!"

She exited the tent. Severus just stood there, trying to figure out what she had just said.

"It means 'good'," Angel told him, pushing past Severus and out of the tent.

"Bad" meant "good"? Severus shook his head. He didn't think he'd ever get the hang of this local dialect.

Severus squinted in the bright sun as he exited the tent, shading his eyes from the bright glare.

Yesterday's village of tents had turned into a small town, and when he turned and looked towards the entrance to the site, there were people on the road for as far as he could see. Hammering continued from the area of the stage.

"You comin'?" Severus heard Azalea ask. He turned and saw her standing a few feet away, surround by Yesmina, Angel, and the others.

Azalea seemed in a much better mood, and Severus wondered if Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly's Muggle spell was the cause.

The group moved off with no particular destination in mind. Azalea as usual was leading the way, followed by Angel, Steve, and Yesmina. DeWard and Dawn were holding each other's hands and periodically giggling. Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly trailed behind.

Severus trotted up to join the group, falling in next to Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly.

"What's your sign?" she asked.

"Huh?" Severus responded, startled. "What?"

"Your sign, man," Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly repeated. "Like, your astrological sign, man..."

"Oh," Severus mused. "Capricorn."

"Hmmm," Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly mused. "I'm an Aquarius. We won't get along, unless we work on it..."

"I don't want to fight with you," Severus responded. "I don't want to fight with anybody..." he mused.

"Oh, wow!" Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly exclaimed. "That is, like, so heavy, man!"

Severus realized that not being able to understand what Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly was saying might be one of the reasons they supposedly wouldn't get along.

"What do people call you?" he asked, which seemed to surprise her. "I mean, does everyone call you by three names? Or do you have a shorter name? A nickname?"

"Oh!" she mused. "My old man always, like, just calls me Freedom, sometimes Butterfly when he's stoned, and my old lady, like, calls me Moonbeam, but most kids just call me Free..."

"'Free'," Severus mused. "Can I call you that?"

"Sure, man!" she answered. "Like, why wouldn't you?"

Severus was glad to know that she could be called by one syllable instead of seven.

"So, like, what sign are the others?" she continued. Severus had to think a moment.

"Angel's a Virgo," he started.

"Wow! An earth sign, like you!" Free announced. "That's, like, why you dig each other..."

Severus tried to figure out what that meant.

"DeWard's a Gemini," he continued.

"Oh, wow! That's why he and Dawn are getting it on!" Free stated. "She's a Leo...plus Gemini's are wild flirts, man!'

She laughed.

"Yesmina's a Pisces," Severus stated.

"Hmmm, heavy," Free mused. "She probably jives with Angel better than with you, man!"

"Azalea's a Sagittarius," Severus finished, choosing to ignore Free's previous comment.

Free stared at Azalea's back.

"She grooves with DeWard," she finally announced. "And probably with Yesmina, cuz Yesmina'll just hang with what Azalea wants..."

Free didn't say anything else for a few seconds.

"She and Angel, like, compliment each other, man," she finally stated. Severus laughed.

"They _rarely_ compliment each other!" he joked.

Free stopped and stared at him.

"You _know_ what I mean, man!" she stated matter-of-factly, then looked at the backs of the other children as they continued walking away.

"With Azalea and Angel, it's like each is diggin' a mirror image of the other, you know?" she stated. "Now, if there's somethin' one cat _don't_ dig about themselves, then it'll be a bad scene, cuz they'll see it in the other cat...else they really groove, dig it?"

What _was_ it with this girl, Severus thought.

"But with Azalea and you, man, you'll usually have hang-ups," Free continued, starting to walk again. "You both have far out dreams, you both, like, see the same goal, but she'll work to get bread so she can hang loose and have fun. You're uptight about work, man; you'll work just for the sake of work and keep on workin..."

Severus wasn't sure whether she meant this as an insult. He didn't think that working for the sake of working and getting ahead and making a better life for oneself and one's loved ones was all that bad.

"Unless you dig that, man, it'll be a bummer," Free continued. "Like, it'll be a gas at first but, like, turn into a bad scene, you dig it? Too many hang-ups, it'll be a drag and one of you will finally split, man..."

"Are you a witch!?" Severus blurted out. Free gave him a cryptic look.

"My old man and lady are," she finally answered. "They're, like, Wiccans actually, you know, pagans...they worship the Great Mother Goddess, and have these crazy coven meetings every month, it's far out, man!"

"Do they do any actual magick?" Severus demanded eagerly, stopping and grabbing Free's arm. "Like, do they cast spells and make potions?"

"Sure, man," Free answered. "They, like, do that stuff all the time, like..."

"Free," Severus interrupted, lowering his voice, "Do they have an owl, or know where I can get one?"

"An owl?" Free asked, confused. "Oh! You mean like a _familiar_, man?"

Severus nodded eagerly.

"No, man," Free answered. "There _is_ this cat back home who, like, has a cat that my old lady calls his familiar, but she, like, does that as a joke, man. The cat's just a cat, man. Why?"

Severus sighed in disappointment, gazing down at his feet.

"_I'm_ a witch," he finally admitted. "A wizard, actually. My mum's a witch, and she doesn't know that I'm over here, or what happened to me. I want to send an owl with a letter to her...also to a friend of mine."

Free was still looking at him cryptically.

"No, man," she answered. "I don't know anyone with an owl, man. _That_ would be far out, man, to have an _owl_! But you can't send an owl to England, man! No owl'd be able to, like, _fly_ that far, man! Why don't you just _mail_ them a letter, man? Like, you know, the post office thing, man?"

Severus sighed and started walking quickly to catch up with the others. He didn't feel like explaining that Angel had helped him try to get a letter to his mother, but that the letter had come back as undeliverable as addressed. Angel had also suggested trying to use the telephone, but his parents didn't own a phone.

He had actually tried calling every "Evans" listed who lived in Lily's area, and finally was successful in reaching her home.

Unfortunately, the first time he tried, Petunia had answered and had hung up on him.

The second time he tried, Lily's father had answered and said that she wasn't home. Severus had asked that he tell her that he'd called, and that he was in America, and was all right and would send her a letter soon, but Mr. Evans had sounded like he thought it was a crank call, and Severus had forgotten to ask him what their mailing address was.

When he tried again, the operator stated that no one at that number was accepting overseas calls no matter who was paying for the call and that no, the party's address was _not_ listed.

"Where are we going?" he asked when he caught up with the others.

"Dunno," was the general consensus in reply.

It was now very hot, walking in the bright summer sun.

"What are we going to _do_?" he asked, to which "Dunno" was also the general consensus.

Severus had the distinct feeling it was going to be a decidedly _long_ weekend.

"Just when does this concert thing _start_?" he demanded.

"Not until this evening," Angel answered. "People are still coming..."

Severus looked around, and wondered how many more people could be fit in.

"Let's go back to the lake," Angel announced. "At least there's shade, there..."

"Aren't we supposed to be going to that Free School thing Annie told us about?" Severus asked.

"You _want_ to go to that?" Angel demanded.

"Not much is happening there until this afternoon, man, just arts and crafts stuff," Free interrupted. "My old man and lady are teachin' this afternoon..."

The others glanced at each other, realizing that this now meant that they couldn't avoid the Free School altogether. They therefore decided to take advantage of what free time they had, and headed back to the lake.

But when they arrived, they found that other concert attendees had decided to cool off in the lake.

And they weren't wearing any clothes.

"What the_** FUCK**_!?" Azalea exclaimed. Yesmina's pale face turned pink. All the boys plus Dawn giggled and snickered. Free just stood calmly gazing out on the scene.

"Come on!" Angel snickered, grabbing Severus by the arm and leading him and the others to the place by the rock they had sat by the night before. All except Azalea and Free sat on the ground, Yesmina making it a point to sit with her back to the lake.

Azalea just glared at the people in the lake with her hands on her hips, as if she was about to scold them. Free continued to just gaze at the scene, displaying no emotion.

"We go skinny dipping back home all the time," Steve stated, indicating his sister and himself. "I've never seen _adults_ do it, though!"

"Goddammit!" Azalea shouted, turning and throwing herself on the ground by the others. "I wanted to wash up in that lake!"

"What's stopping you?" Steve asked. The glances he got from Angel, Severus, Yesmina, and DeWard quickly informed him that it was a foolish question to have asked Azalea.

"You expect me to go in there with _them_?" Azalea screamed, throwing her arm out in the general direction of the lake.

"Uhhh...yeah," Steve answered cautiously. Azalea glared at him as if he had just suggested she throw herself into an active volcano.

"Isn't anyone. like, going swimming, man?" Free interrupted, still gazing out at the lake. No one answered her.

"Well _I_ am, man!" she announced, coming over to them and proceeding to take off her clothes. "It's hot, man, and you all have too many hang-ups!'

She stripped naked and then went and plunged into the lake.

"Well, it _is_ hot," Steve agreed, looking at his sister. "Want to go swimming, Dawn?"

Dawn eagerly nodded. Steve helped her take off her clothes, and then took his own off and both joined Free in the lake.

DeWard looked surprised, but also jealous. Yesmina refused to turn around. Azalea looked like she couldn't decide whom in the lake she was going to murder first.

Angel and Severus looked at each other, and then laughed.

"Well, it _is_ hot!" Angel admitted.

"_I'm_ not taking my clothes off!" Severus laughed, causing Azalea to quickly turn around and glare at him, which annoyed Severus.

"_What!?_" he demanded. "Wasn't it _you_ just this morning telling me I had to wash my hair? Isn't that why you have soap and towels in your bag?"

"You ain't goin' in there while _they_ are!" Azalea exclaimed, again gesturing towards the lake. This made Severus even angrier.

"_Yes I am_!" he shouted, yanking off the headband and his hairclip, and then taking his necklaces off.

"Yeah, like Free said," Angel laughed, standing up. "_You_ got too many hang-ups, Azalea!"

Angel took off his shirt and sandals, but left his pants on. Severus did the same, feeling strange having his shirt off in front of the girls. But then he remembered that Azalea had probably seen more of him that morning, which made him even angrier.

He glared at her and grabbed her bag, took out one of the towels and the bar of soap, and threw the bag back down on the ground at Azalea's feet. He then stalked off towards the lake.

Angel paused, looking from Yesmina to Azalea to DeWard.

"Any of you coming?" he asked.

Azalea glared at him, Yesmina looked ready to cry. DeWard looked from one girl to the other, trying to figure out what he should do. Angel shrugged and turned to join Severus.

Severus was already in the water, furiously washing his hair and mumbling something that Angel couldn't understand. Free and Steve were playing with Dawn.

Severus plunged under the water to rinse his hair, and then came back on shore and carefully placed the soap by his towel on a rock. Yesmina's back was still turned, but Azalea was glaring at them.

Severus defiantly turned around and went back into the water until it was just up to his waist, and then sat down facing Azalea, glaring as the water lapped at his chin.

Suddenly DeWard, clad only in tie-dyed underpants, came running into the water, splashing his way over to where Free and Steve were playing with Dawn.

Azalea stormed up to the water's edge, towel in hand.

"_**YOU**_! Watch out for us!" she demanded, holding out the towel. It was unclear whether she meant Angel or Severus. The two boys looked at each other, and then back at Azalea, uncomprehending.

Azalea shook the towel vigorously. Yesmina slowly came up behind her, averting her eyes from the lake. Severus had never seen Yesmina so pink.

"_We_ need to wash _our_ hair, too!" Azalea stated. "Hold this for us so no one see us!"

If it had just been Azalea, Severus would have ignored her, and he suspected that Angel felt the same. But because Yesmina was also there, Angel came out of the water and grabbed the towel.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Hold it up!" Azalea yelled at him, sitting down on Severus' towel and taking off her shoes and blouse. She was wearing a bra that Annie had tie-dyed, so that it looked more like the top of a two-piece bathing suit. She left her jeans on, grabbed the bar of soap, and waded into the lake up to her knees, grumbling something about trash.

Angel half-heartedly held the towel up as Azalea plopped into a sitting position and then dunked her head under the water.

"Make sure you hold that so no one else see!" Azalea told him, as she soaped her hair.

"Azalea!" Angel exclaimed, exasperated. "You haven't even taken your clothes off, what's there for anyone to see?"

"I ain't got no _blouse_ on!" she whispered hoarsely, scrubbing her scalp.

"So why is it okay if _we_ see you without your blouse on?" Severus asked. He had stood up and waded over to Angel, who handed him one end of the towel to hold.

Azalea just glared at Severus, then dunked her head back under the water to rinse.

"You'se different," she mumbled when she had come back up.

"Different?" Severus asked. Azalea glared at him.

"Yes, _'different'_!" she exclaimed, tears in her eyes. "You'se...you _family_!"

She jumped up, scaring both Severus and Angel who took a couple of steps back. But Azalea had taken a misstep, her foot slipped and she fell backward into the lake with a splash.

Angel and Severus couldn't stop laughing. Even as they did so, they both knew it was a mistake, but they couldn't help themselves.

Sure enough, Azalea surfaced, with murder in her eyes. It was bad enough to lose her dignity in that manner, but now no one was holding the towel up to shield her from curious eyes.

"Stop laughing at me!" she demanded, which only made Angel and Severus laugh harder.

"_Fuck you_!" she screamed, making a grab for the towel, which only resulted in her slipping and falling again.

Severus let go of his end of the towel, doubled over in laughter. Angel threw it onto the shore as Azalea again resurfaced, clearly intent on murdering someone this time.

Severus offered her his hand to help her get up, but she took it and yanked it, causing Severus to slip and splash into the water next to her.

"Laugh at _that_, English Boy!" she yelled, but she was beginning to laugh now, too.

Angel was holding his side, laughing.

"You too!" Azalea exclaimed, kicking his leg so that Angel slipped and fell down into the water.

Severus found his footing and stood up, laughing. Azalea kicked out at him, which he tried to avoid, but which resulted in him slipping and falling again.

By this time, the four others had come over, and Azalea turned over and scooped up a handful of water, tossing it at them. Steve, being in front, got the brunt of the attack.

Azalea apparently decided that remaining down was a tactical advantage, and so she scooted away like a crab before Steve could retaliate. But not being able to see where she was going, she bumped into Angel, who pushed her head under the water before he got up and waded out of her reach.

As she resurfaced, eyes closed and gasping for breath, Steve, DeWard, Dawn and Free moved in with the long stalks of marsh grass they'd been playing with previously, and proceeded to tickle Azalea.

"_Not fair!_" she gasped, trying unsuccessfully to get away from the organized assault.

Severus waded over to where the swamp grass was growing, and plucked two very long stalks with extra fluffy ends, then waded back to the battle.

"Here, Azalea!" he yelled, darting in between her attackers and shoving one of the stalks at her.

Free and Steve, being closest to Severus, turned on him, leaving Azalea to deal with DeWard and Dawn. Severus wasn't sure that was fair, Azalea getting the two youngest opponents, but then again she was still sprawled on her butt while he was on two feet and could maneuver better. And he and Azalea also had the advantage of armor, albeit of the denim variety.

And that, in the long run, was the deciding factor in The Battle of Woodstock Lake.

A few minutes later, the denim-clad warriors stumbled arm-in-arm from the lake, laughing as they tormented their naked prisoners with their grass swords. But the prisoners were laughing just as hard as their captors were, so it was difficult to say just who were the losers.

Angel was standing in the water a few feet from shore, holding a towel up to shield Yesmina from view as she finished washing her hair. Azalea tickled Angel.

"Hey!" Angel complained, "You'll make me drop Yesmina's towel."

But at that moment, Yesmina took the towel, wrapped it around herself, and went back on shore, leaving Angel free for some continued tickling before he too escaped.

Azalea grabbed her blouse and put it on, and then picked up her sandals to carry. Severus picked up the remaining towel and the bar of soap, and followed Azalea back to where their clothes were.

Free had taken a small, thin quilt out of her satchel and spread it over the dirt and grass, and sat on it, still naked, combing her hair. Yesmina had put her blouse back on and was also sitting on the quilt, but looked uncomfortable. Someone's radio played nearby.

-

_**Oh the games people play now  
Every night and every day now  
Never meaning what they say now  
And never saying what they mean**_

-

_**  
**_

Steve had pulled his jeans back on and was helping Dawn to dress. Angel had offered to help DeWard put his own jeans back on, but DeWard had defiantly stated that he was old enough to dress himself when he wanted to, and then proceeded to attempt to do cartwheels across the grass.

Azalea grabbed her bag, staring at Free.

"Ain't you gonna get dressed?" she demanded.

"Not yet," Free answered, still combing her hair. Azalea looked at her as if she thought Free was out of her mind.

"We're, like, naturists back home, man" Free explained dreamily. "We go sky clad all the time, when we can, man..."

-

**_They're gonna teach you how to meditate  
Read your horoscope, cheat your fate  
And furthermore to hell with hate  
Come on and get on board _**

**_La da la da da da da,  
La da da da da dee,  
I'm a talkin' about you and me  
And the games people play_**

-

Free seemed unaware that her statement had stopped everyone else in their tracks.

"Are you saying that where you come from, you don't wear clothes!?" Severus asked, finishing putting back on his smock and vest.

"Like, when it's not cool we do, man," Free answered matter-of-factly. "But when it's, like, cool, man, we don't, man..."

Severus' head was swimming. When it was warm, they _did_ wear clothes, but when it wasn't warm, they didn't?

"It's the way we all should be, man," Free continued. "No hang ups about what sort of clothes some cat has, dig?"

-

_**Look around tell me what you see  
What's happening to you and me  
God grant me the serenity  
To remember who I am**_

-

**  
**

Severus sat down and started to put his headband back on.

"Don't do that," Azalea told him, pausing in trying to get her wide-toothed comb through her own hair. "Let me do yo' hair!'

She turned Severus around so that his back was to her, and started combing his hair. Since it was naturally straight, she had little problem combing it.

She then lay the comb down, and rummaged in her bag. In the meantime, Yesmina had come up behind Azalea, picked up her comb, and worked something from a bottle through Azalea's hair, which smoothed it and made it shinier.

Azalea retrieved a silver barrette from her bag, and then pulled Severus' hair back from his face and caught it in the barrette, creating a ponytail that draped down his neck. She then clipped the beaded and feathered hair ornament underneath the barrette, letting it entwine in Severus' ponytail.

"Oh wow!" Free exclaimed, finally pulling her dress on over her head. "A roach clip! Far out!"

Azalea finished by putting the headband back around Severus' forehead.

-

_**La da la da da da da,  
La da da da da dee,  
I'm a talkin' about you and me  
And the games people play**_

-

**  
**

Azalea turned Severus around so that she could survey her handiwork, and then gave him a big smile, followed by a hug.

Yesmina was still working on Azalea's own hair, though, and when Free had finished helping Steve comb Dawn's hair, she joined Yesmina in massaging whatever was in the bottle into Azalea's hair, then combing it out.

"Wow, like what is this stuff, man?" Free asked. "It's, like, doing groovy things to your hair!"

"It's something Severus made," Yesmina explained. Free looked surprised, and then gave Severus a cryptic look.

"It help not make it so nappy!" Azalea mumbled. Free stopped combing her hair.

"Like, what's wrong with that, man?" she asked.

"You ain't got nappy hair," Azalea snapped. "You don't know!"

"So what if it's nappy, man?" Free answered. "We know lots of black cats back home, man, they all go natural, let their hair grow in 'fros, man!" Azalea just harrumphed.

"Hey, man!" Free responded. "Are you sayin' God makes mistakes, man? Cuz, like, you are what God made you, man! Even the Bible says we're all made in God's image. And God's beautiful, man! The Goddess is beautiful, man! That means you're beautiful, man! We're all beautiful, man!"

"The Bible also say God help those who help themself!" Azalea exclaimed. "So I's just helpin' God wit' my hair!"

This caused not only Free to pause, but Steve, Dawn, and DeWard. Angel seemed to have fallen asleep.

Free then laughed, and continued to help Yesmina with Azalea's hair. When it was finally reasonably tamed, Free retrieved some ribbons and various hair ornaments of her own from her satchel, and offered them for Azalea to try.

As the others sipped warm juices and sodas, they watched as first Azalea, and then Yesmina, and finally Free, were transformed into nature goddesses. Free was successful in convincing Yesmina not to put Severus' lotion into her own hair, but rather to leave it with its natural waves and curls, which Severus thought was actually an improvement.

By the time the girls had finished it was early afternoon. It was decided that it was too hot to walk back to the Free Kitchen in this heat, so it was agreed that they'd all take a nap in the shade before heading back in the mid-afternoon.

Severus lazily watched a spider as its web glinted in the sunshine between the rock and the bushes behind it. He'd always thought that spiders were amazing things, the way they were able to spin such intricate and beautiful webs, and then just wait for their prey.

As he drifted off to sleep, Azalea mumbled something about the song that was playing on the hidden radio.

_**Mmmm, baby  
(hold on, hold on, just a little bit)  
Mmmm, baby  
(hold on, hold on, just a little bit) **_

_**I started school  
In a worn, torn, dress  
That somebody threw out  
I knew the way it felt  
To always live in doubt  
To be without the simple things  
So afraid my friends would see  
The guilt in me...**_

-

_**

* * *

**_

-

_If I were a carpenter  
And you were a lady  
Would you marry me anyway?  
Would you have my baby?_

_If a tinker were my trade  
Would you still find me,  
Carrying the pots I made,  
Following behind me._

_Save my love through loneliness,  
Save my love for sorrow,  
I've given you my onlyness,  
Come give your tomorrow._

_If I worked my hands in wood,  
Would you still love me?  
Answer me babe, "Yes I would,  
I'll put you above me."_

_If I were a miller  
At a mill wheel grinding,  
Would you miss your color box,  
And your soft shoe shining?_

_If I were a carpenter  
And you were a lady,  
Would you marry me anyway?  
Would you have my baby?  
Would you marry anyway?  
Would you have my baby?_

-

**IF I WERE A CARPENTER**  
Tim Hardin  
1969

-

_

* * *

_

-

_Oh the games people play now  
Every night and every day now  
Never meaning what they say now  
And never saying what they mean_

_While they wile away the hours  
In their ivory towers  
'Til they're covered up with flowers  
In the back of a black limousine_

_Chorus:  
La da la da da da da,  
La da da da da dee,  
I'm a talkin' about you and me  
And the games people play_

_Oh we make one another cry  
Break our hearts and we say goodbye  
Cross our hearts and we hope to die  
That the other was to blame_

_Neither one will give in  
So we gaze at our eight by ten  
Thinking about the things that might have been  
And it's a dirty rotten shame_

_(chorus)_

_People walking up to ya  
Singing glory halleluiah  
And they tryin' to sock it to ya  
In the name of the Lord_

_They're gonna teach you how to meditate  
Read your horoscope, cheat your fate  
And furthermore to hell with hate  
Come on and get on board_

_(chorus)_

_Look around tell me what you see  
What's happening to you and me  
God grant me the serenity  
To remember who I am_

_'Cause you've given up your sanity  
For your pride and your vanity  
Turn your back on humanity  
And you don't give a  
Da da da da da_

_(repeat chorus x2)_

-

**GAMES PEOPLE PLAY  
**Joe South  
1969

-

_

* * *

_

_-_

_Tenement slum_

_You think that I don't feel love  
But what I feel for you is real love  
In other's eyes I see reflected  
A hurt, scorned, rejected_

_Love child, never meant to be  
Love child, born in poverty  
Love child, never meant to be  
Love child, take a look at me_

_I started my life  
In an old, cold run down tenement slum  
My father left,  
He never even married mom  
I shared the guilt my mama knew  
So afraid that others knew I had no name_

_This love we're contemplating  
Is worth the pain of waiting  
We'll only end up hating  
The child we maybe creating_

_Love child, never meant to be  
Love child, (scorned by) society  
Love child, always second best  
Love child, different from the rest_

_Mmmm, baby  
(hold on, hold on, just a little bit)  
Mmmm, baby  
(hold on, hold on, just a little bit)_

_I started school, in a worn, torn, dress  
That somebody threw out  
I knew the way it felt,  
To always live in doubt  
To be without the simple things  
So afraid my friends would see  
The guilt in me_

_Don't think that I don't need you  
Don't think I don't wanna please you  
No child of mine'll be bearing  
The name of shame I've been wearing_

_Love child, love child, never quite as good  
Afraid, ashamed, misunderstood_

_But I'll always love you  
I'll always love you  
I'll always love you  
I'll always love you  
I'll always love you  
I'll always love you_

-

**LOVE CHILD**  
The Supremes  
1968

-


	9. Chapter 7 Beautiful People Aug 15 1969

_  
__**

* * *

**_

This, and the following three chapters, will be some of the longest chapters in this story, but keep in mind that a lot of it will be made up of the songs being played at the concert, so I hope you, the reader, don't feel too intimidated by the size!

* * *

_  
_

I'd like to play a game,  
That is so much fun,  
And it's not so very hard to do,  
The name of the game is Simple Simon says,  
And I would like for you to play it too

Put your hands in the air,  
Simple Simon says,  
Shake them all about,  
Simple Simon says,  
Do it when Simon says,  
Simple Simon says,  
And you will never be out.

Perhaps because he had little experience in playing games, Severus was feeling decidedly foolish.

In school he'd been forced to take part in recreational activities for which he had no interest, let alone love, and he had always been one of the last one's picked when teams were chosen, He was then made fun of when his efforts at whatever sport or game was being played inevitably fell short.

Nevertheless, here they were, at the Free School session conducted by Free's parents that afternoon after lunch. The Free School, it turned out, was more of an Aquarian New Age day camp than school, where arts and crafts, and what Free's parents called "mind and sensory expanding" games were the order of the day.

And so they had the children start out playing Simon Says, to a song by the same name playing on their portable record player.

Free was playing enthusiastically with some other girls. DeWard was playing enthusiastically with Dawn. Dawn's brother was doing it enthusiastically with a couple of other boys who all were making silly faces at Free and the other girls as they followed along.

Azalea and Angel were playing with each other, Azalea particularly enthusiastic when shaking her hands with the middle finger extended towards Angel, who in return gave enthusiastic middle finger thrusts in Azalea's direction.

Yesmina's enthusiasm, on the other hand, seemed more a case of not wanting to offend their hosts.

Severus was not enthusiastic at all, which then drew the attention of Free's parents who took turns in coming over and trying to force him to play, saying that he needed to "loosen up".

_Put your hands on your head,  
Simple Simon says,  
Bring them down by your side,  
Simple Simon says,  
Shake them to your left,  
Simple Simon Says,  
Now shake them to your right_

Severus made half-hearted movements, just to keep Free's parents from mauling him again.

_Now that you have learnt,  
To play this game with me,  
You can see its not so hard to do,  
Lets try it once again,  
This time more carefully,  
And I hope the winner will be you._

Severus would not have minded so much if they had only played the record, and the game, only once. But Free's parents were convinced that everyone was having so much fun, that they kept having everyone do it over and over.

By the fourth round, only Free was still enthusiastic, although Azalea and Angel in the back were now both shaking middle finger salutes towards Free's parents instead of at each other. Steve and his buddies were putting their enthusiasm into mugging funny faces.

DeWard and Dawn had even given up, as had a good many of the other children, and they were not sitting on the ground.

Even Yesmina didn't have the enthusiasm to maintain a facade of politeness, and when she went to join DeWard and Dawn, Severus joined her.

Thankfully, Free's parents decided that when the record finally ended, that it was time to move on to something else.

They had the children line up, shortest to tallest, and then had them start tapping the shoulders and back of the person in front of them with their fingertips.

DeWard and Dawn were at the front of the line; Angel, Severus, and Yesmina were together towards the middle; Azalea, Free, and Steve were towards the end of the line, but not together.

Severus felt only slightly less foolish tapping Angel's back, and having his back in turn tapped by Yesmina, than he had when he had been expected to wave his hands to his side or clap them over his head during Simon Says.

After a few minutes, Free's parents announced that they should all stop, turn in the opposite direction, and commence tapping the back and shoulders of the person who had just been tapping them.

"What is this supposed to be doing?" Severus whispered as he began tapping Yesmina's back.

"Hell if I know, amigo," Angel answered as he tapped Severus. "It's all crazy hippie shit, just go along with it!"

"It's supposed to relax you," Yesmina stated. Severus glanced back at Angel.

"Do _you_ feel relaxed?" Severus asked. Angel snickered and leaned forward.

"I don't know who this dude is behind me, man!" he whispered. "_You_ figure it out!"

"I'm relaxed!" Yesmina stated, which made Severus stop tapping her.

Free's parents seem to take this as a sign to move onto the next activity. They made everyone stand in a circle, facing one way. Azalea squeezed in between Angel and Severus.

"What they think, havin' strange people touch yo' all up like that!" she exclaimed. Azalea had obviously not found the tapping exercise relaxing.

Free's parents told them that they were now going to do an exercise in trusting one another.

They had the rest of the children count off as 'one' or 'two'. Anyone who was Number One was to fall backwards, and be caught by the Number Two behind them.

Azalea, a Number One, looked doubtfully at Severus, a Number Two, behind her.  
Severus, almost a foot shorter than Azalea, looked even more doubtfully back at her.

Azalea then looked to Number Two Angel, in front of her, who exclaimed, "Hey, I gotta catch this dude in front of me!" and turned around.

"Yo' gonna drop me!" Azalea accused Severus, who just shrugged.

"I'll do my best, Azalea...but you're a lot bigger than me."

"Let's switch!" Azalea decided, moving between Severus and Yesmina. "I'll catch you!"

This didn't make Severus feel any more comfortable.

"How do I know that you'll even try to catch me?" he demanded.

"I'll catch you!" Azalea answered, trying to act offended, but her laughter did not assuage Severus' doubts.

"You probably will drop me on purpose!" Severus retorted.

"No I won't!" Azalea replied. Severus was not convinced.

"Okay!" Free's parents called out. "On the count of three, everyone who is a Number One just let go and fall back and let the person in back of you catch you!"

Severus gave one last doubting glance back at Azalea, who was fighting to keep a straight face, which made it even harder to trust her.

"One! Two! _Three_!"

Most of the Number Ones let themselves fall backwards, and surprisingly most of them were caught by their designated partners. Severus was not one of them.

On the count of three, he still stood there, wondering what the hell this thing was all about and why he should be doing it.

"Fall, goddammit!" Azalea whispered hoarsely in his ear, making the whole concept of trusting her somewhat more difficult.

However, Severus weighed his options; the worst that could happen is that Azalea would not even try to catch him, and he would end up in an undignified sprawl on the ground. But in that case, she would have Angel and even Yesmina angry with her, and Free lecturing something to the effect of it not being cool, man.

But if he did not even try, he would end up with an angry Azalea who would probably make his life miserable for the rest of the day.

Severus closed his eyes, tried to relax, and let himself fall backwards.

He felt surprisingly strong hands grab his upper arms, and then carefully lower him to the ground. He opened his eyes and saw Azalea grinning at him.

"I _told_ yo' so!" she exclaimed, before punching him in the arm and standing back up.

"Ow!" Severus complained, standing up and rubbing his arm.

Azalea just laughed, but immediately stopped when Free's parents announced that they were now expected to reverse roles, and the fallers would now be the catchers, and vice versa. Azalea now realized she was in the same predicament as before.

"Yo' _better_ catch me!" she threatened Severus.

"I'll _try_!" Severus complained. "But I can't guarantee that _**I**_ won't fall, too!"

Azalea looked very doubtful as they switched direction in the circle.

"And I get to punch you afterwards, too!" Severus promised.

Azalea glanced back at him with a glare, but before she could say anything, Free's parents started the countdown. On the count of 'three', the designated fallers fell.

Except Azalea.

"Fall, goddammit!" Severus taunted.

Azalea angrily crossed her arms, and threw herself backwards towards Severus.

And Severus did catch her.

Sort of.

He did get his hands on her upper arms. He even managed to hold her up for a second.

But the combination of Azalea's height, weight, added momentum of throwing herself backwards, and a head full of wavy hair and ornaments in his face, proved to be too great for the much smaller Severus, who fell backwards with Azalea sprawling on him.

Azalea was laughing hysterically, as Severus tried to crawl out from under her, pulling strands of her hair from his mouth.

"Yeah, yo' catch me!" she laughed.

"I _did_ catch you!" Severus pointed out. "If you hadn't _thrown_ yourself at me, I wouldn't have fallen!"

He finished crawling out from under Azalea, who was still lying down, laughing.

"That'll be the day, when I throw myself at _you_!" she gasped.

Severus turned around on all fours to face her, and then punched her in her arm.

"_Ouch_!" she complained. "Why you do that?"

"Turn about, fair play!" Severus announced, getting up.

"Yeah, I trust _you_ now!" Azalea grumbled, getting to her feet.

"I _did_ catch you!" Severus reminded her.

"Yeah, I guess I trust you to catch me _and then fall on yo' ass_!" she laughed, straightening her clothes.

"Well," Severus slyly mused, "at least we _both_ end up on our asses."

Azalea laughed harder.

"Okay!" she agreed. "If I ever need to trust someone to help me fall on my ass, it'll be you, Sev!"

"Same here!" Severus chuckled. At least Azalea had not ended up mad at him for the rest of the day.

Free's parents announced that they were now going to sit in a circle, hold hands, and chant "Aum".

Free enthusiastically joined the other children in the circle. Azalea and Yesmina looked unsure, but sat in the circle anyway. The others, already having done this earlier in the day, stood looking at each other, wondering if there was some way that they could get out of it without causing too much of a scene.

Luckily, at that moment Benjie and some other men came by, and called out to the boys.

"We need help in taking down the fence -- want to come along?"

Angel, Severus, Steve and his buddies, did not need any additional prompting, and immediately sprinted after Benjie and the others as they went around the Free Kitchen.

This was the first time they had gotten a good look at the festival site since returning from the lake. Even though only a few hours had elapsed since that morning, the tent city had blossomed into a tent metropolis, and there were now thousands of people sprawled on blankets on the hillside in front of the stage, which, by the sounds of hammering drifting in their direction, was _still_ under construction.

Still thousands of other people were walking to and fro; because of the crowd, it was hard to tell what direction they themselves were heading, and Severus put all his energy into just keeping his eye on the backs of the others.

_Life can never be  
Exactly like we want it to be  
I could be satisfied knowing you love me _

But there's one thing I want you to do Especially for me  
And it's something that everybody needs

While I'm far away from you my baby  
Whisper a little prayer for me my baby  
Because it's hard for me my baby  
And the darkest hour is just before dawn

It seemed half the people showing up for the concert were carrying radios, all playing a different station.

".._.surge much stronger than was predicted_," a tinny voice announced from one radio. "_It is expected to strengthen..."_

At that moment, they broke through the crowd, and Severus saw that they were standing beside the fence, which someone had already started to tear down.

He wondered if the radio announcer had been talking about this concert, because on the other side of the fence was a crowd of people, behind whom was a line of even more people stretching out as far as he could see. As the fence came down, they all came surging in.

"The concert's now free!" one of Benjie's friends shouted and the crowd around them cheered as they rushed in. Steve had to grab Angel so that he wouldn't be crushed in the onslaught, and Severus sought refuge behind a section of fence that was still erect.

_I hear a hurricane's a'blowing  
I know the end is comin' soon  
I fear the river's over flowin'  
I hear the voice of rage and ruin _

Don't go 'round tonight  
Well, its bound to take your life  
There's a bad moon on the rise

"Here, Sev!" Benjie exclaimed, handing a torn portion of the fence to him. "Just pull it and walk backwards."

By doing this, Severus, Benjie and a friend of his were able to open up the fence, but keep themselves protected by the portion that was still standing. Severus could see Angel, Steve, and some others doing the same on the other side of the opening.

_Think (think-think)  
Let your mind go let yourself be free _

Let's go back  
Let's go back  
Let's go way on to way back when  
I didn't even know you  
You couldn't a'been too much more than ten  
(Just a child)

Severus pulled hard on the fence. There was something liberating in the act of destruction, in tearing down the wall. Yeah, tear down the wall, motherfucker, he thought. Now he really understood what the Up Against The Wall manifesto really meant. Everyone was connected. There should not be any walls or fences separating people.

_Yeah think (think - think)  
Let your mind go let yourself be free _

Oh freedom (freedom)  
Let's have some freedom (freedom)  
Oh freedom  
Yeah freedom (yeah)

You got to have freedom (freedom)  
Oh freedom (freedom)  
You need you some freedom  
Oh freedom

Severus slipped on something and fell, but he didn't let go of the fence. He just pulled harder, trying to get up.

_Oh-oh-oh think (think)  
Let your mind go let yourself be free _

People walkin' around everyday  
Playin' games and takin' scores  
Tryin' to make other people lose their minds  
Well be careful you don't lose yours

Oh think (think)  
Think about what you're tryin' to do to me

Woo-hoo think (think)  
Let your mind go let yourself be free

Benjie laughed and helped Severus to get to his feet.

"I think that's enough," he stated.

Severus looked, and saw that between their two teams, they had opened up almost 30 feet of the fence.

"Let's move up a ways and open up the fence over there," Benjie's friend stated, indicating a portion of fence about a quarter of a mile away, near the road where it seemed tens of thousands more people were now coming.

"..._a massive traffic jam on the New York State Thruway_..." a tinny voice issued from yet another radio.

"Is that talking about us?" Severus asked, as Angel and the others joined them.

"Yeah!" Benjie's friend answered, laughing. "There's so many people comin' here, there's no place to park, they're leavin' their cars on the Thruway and walkin' here, man! Is that far out, or what?"

_Time has come today  
(Time)  
Young hearts can go their way  
(Time)  
Can't put it off another day  
(Time)_

_  
_

They reached their destination, and proceeded to dismantle that portion of fence, announcing "The concert is now free!" to an appreciative crowd that rushed through the opening.

_Now the time has come  
(Time)  
No place to run  
(Time)  
Might get burned up by the sun  
(Time)  
But I'll have my fun  
(Time) _

I've been loved and pushed aside  
(Time)  
I've been crushed by a tumbling tide  
(Time)  
And my soul has been psychedelicized  
(Time)  
Now the time has come  
(Time)  
There are things to realize

Severus spotted a pair of glasses with round lenses tinted a dark mauve lying on the ground. He picked them up and put them on.

"You look like John Lennon!" Angel exclaimed.

"At least I have something to wear in the sun," Severus explained, moving so that he was behind a portion of fence that was still standing.

"Well, you won't be needing them soon," Steve said, pointing to the sky.

Severus looked to where he was pointing, and saw a medium sized cloud that mushroomed farther up into the sky. It was the only sizeable cloud to be seen.

"That's a thunderhead in the making," Steve announced.

"How do you know?" Severus asked him. He had never paid close attention to clouds before.

"We have to pay attention to such things back on the farm," Steve answered. "Especially where we live. We get tornadoes out there."

Angel now shielded his eyes to stare at the cloud in question.

"Don't look like no tornado to me," he stated.

"Maybe not a tornado," Steve explained. "But we _will_ have rain later this afternoon, you can bet on it!"

"Yeah?" Angel smirked. "Whatcha wanna bet?"

Steve hesitated, taken off guard by Angel's response.

"I've got five dollars says it's gonna rain today," Steve smiled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a very dirty and crumpled five dollar bill and holding it out.

Angel stared at the money, and then nudged Severus with his elbow. Severus just looked at Angel, uncomprehending. Angel gave him a harder nudge.

"Ow!" Severus complained, wondering why everyone was hitting him today. "Why'd you do that?"

Angel gestured his head towards Steve, but Severus still didn't understand.

"Do ya have five dollars on you?" Angel whispered through clenched teeth.

"Not on me," Severus answered, seeing no reason to whisper.

"My friend's good for it," Angel stated, turning back to Steve. "But it's back at our camp."

"Well then, there's no bet until I see your money!" Steve laughed, turning and heading back towards the Free Kitchen.

"Why you don't carry some money on you?" Angel whispered to Severus as they followed Steve.

"Why are you betting _my_ money?" Severus asked in return.

"You said we all could have it!" Angel exclaimed.

"Not to make stupid bets with!" Severus argued.

They were still bickering as they and Steve approached the minibus with the tie-dyed canopy attached to its side, Severus could hear the same song he had heard earlier on someone's radio.

_I ain't no psychiatrist  
I ain't no doctor with degrees  
But it don't take too much IQ  
To see what you're doin' to me _

You better think (think)  
Think about what you're tryin' to do to me

Yeah think (think - think)  
Let your mind go let yourself be free

Oh freedom (freedom)  
Let's have some freedom (freedom)  
Oh freedom  
Yeah freedom (yeah)

And indeed, they did have Freedom, as Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly was sitting under the canopy beside her parent's portable record player.

Azalea was plaiting Free's hair into many tiny braids, singing and waving back and forth to the music. Yesmina, DeWard, and Dawn were all dancing together and singing along with the record.

_You got to have freedom (freedom)  
Oh freedom (freedom)  
You need you some freedom  
Oh freedom  
Ya gotta have_

"We have Freedom, here!" Azalea sang out, in a surprisingly lyrical voice. "Yo' name's Freedom, yeah, Freedom, oh yo' Freedom!"

Free laughed.

_Oooh, yeah think about it baby  
(Whatcha tryin' to do me - think!)  
Let it go baby  
Think about it right now _

Yeah right now  
(think about forgiveness)  
Whoa right now  
(tell about forgiveness)  
Yeah right now  
(tell about forgiveness)

I need to change your mind  
(think about it)  
Baby baby baby woo  
(tell about it...forgiveness)  
Think about it baby  
(tell about forgiveness)

Yeah woo-hoo  
(tell about forgiveness)  
Tell about it baby baby baby  
(think about it…)

Steve had gone in and sat down on the other side of the record player, and perused the record albums that were placed there.

Angel and Severus came in as the one song was ending, and another began.

_Oooh, what you want  
Oooh, baby I got it_

"_Yeah_!" Azalea shouted, raising both arms in the air, and then proceeded to sing along at the top of her lungs.

Oooh, what you need  
Oooh, do you know I got it?

"_I got it, baby_!" Azalea interjected.

_Oooh, all I'm askin'  
Oooh, is for a little respect  
When you come home (just a little bit)_

"Respect, baby!" Azalea shouted, again raising her hands in the air before resuming working on Free's hair. "That's what _I'm_ talkin' about!"

_Hey baby (just a little bit)  
When you get home (just a little bit)  
Mister (just a little bit) _

I ain't gonna do you wrong

"I ain't gonna do you no wrong!" Azalea responded in a surprisingly melodic harmony.

_While you're gone_

"While you're gone, baby!" Azalea sang along.

_Ain't gonna do you wrong, oooh_

"Won't do ya no wrong, oooh baby!"

_'Cause I don't wanna, oooh_

"No, I don't wanna, oooh baby!"

_All I'm askin', oooh baby_

"Oh, askin' ya baby!"

_Is for a little respect  
When you come home (just a little bit)_

"Yeah, some respect, just a little bit!"

_Baby (just a little bit)_

"Baby! Baby!"

_When you get home (just a little bit)_

"Oh when you get home, baby!"

_Yeah (just a little bit)_

"Just a little bit"

_I'm about to…_

"I'm about toooo..."

_Give you all of my money_

"I'll keep all my money, thank you honey!" Azalea sang, laughing. It was only then that she was aware that everyone except Free was staring at her.

"What!?" Azalea exclaimed over the music. "Whatch y'all starin' at!?"

"You have a beautiful voice, Azalea," Free stated serenely.

"We never heard you sing like that," Angel stated, obviously in awe.

_Oooh, your kisses, oooh  
Are sweeter than honey, oooh_

"Oooh, you're sweeter than honey, honey!" Azalea sang.

_And guess what? Oooh,  
So here's my money, oooh_

"I'll still keep my money, and yours too, honey!"

_All I want you to do, oooh, for me  
Is give it to me when you get home  
_

"Yeah, give it all to me when you get home!"

_(re, re, re, re)  
Yeah baby_

"Yeah, baby, give it all to me, baby!"

_(re, re, re, re)  
Whip it to me_

"Whip it out for me, baby!"

_(Respect, just a little bit)_

"Not just a little bit!"

_When you get home, now  
(just a little bit)_

"I want all of it!"

Azalea smiled up at Severus, who suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He was not at all sure what the song was about, nor what Azalea's additional lyrics meant. He went and sat on the edge of the open side door of the minibus.

Suddenly everyone, including Free, Steve and his sister, were shouting along with the record.

_R-E-S-P-E-C-T  
Find out what it means to me  
R-E-S-P-E-C-T  
Take care, TCB_

Severus was startled. However, Steve had jumped up, and he and Angel were now dancing with Yesmina, DeWard, and Dawn as they all sang along with the record.

_(Sock it to me, sock it to me)  
(Sock it to me, sock it to me) _

A little respect  
(sock it to me, sock it to me)  
(sock it to me, sock it to me)

Whoa, babe (just a little bit)  
A little respect (just a little bit)

Yesmina grabbed Severus' hands, and tried to pull him up to join with them dancing.

Severus resisted. He did not know how to dance. He did not want to look foolish.

Yesmina looked disappointed, but just shrugged and rejoined the others.

_I get tired (just a little bit)  
Keep on tryin' (just a little bit)_

Severus reflected that today had started out with Azalea seeing him without clothes on. Maybe. Then he had sat at a table with kids he had just met and did some sort of weird chant. They all then went to the lake where a whole bunch of adults without clothes were.

Then Free and Steve and Dawn had taken all _their_ clothes off, and DeWard almost did. They then had a fight with fuzzy stalks of marsh grass.

This was followed by an afternoon that started out with clapping his hands over his head and shaking them to his side, followed by tapping his fingertips on Angel and Yesmina only to be tapped in return, and then being caught by Azalea as he deliberately fell backwards, only to in turn be crushed by her as she deliberately threw herself back onto him.

Then they went and almost got killed by thousands of people surging through the fences they had just pulled down.

And here he was back at the camp, sitting on the side of the minibus with a bandanna tied around his forehead, his hair pulled back into a silver barrette to which was attached a roach clip with beads and feathers on it, wearing sandals, jeans madly painted in Day-Glo, his now tie-dyed smock, a fringed suede vest with a 'Love" button on its pocket, innumerable love beads and the ankh necklace around his neck, and his just-acquired pair of mauve glasses.

How much more foolish could he get?

Severus got up, and gave dancing his best try.

_You're runnin' out a'foolin'  
(just a little bit)  
And I ain't lyin'  
(just a little bit) _

(re, re, re, re)  
'spect 'spect 'spect 'spect

Severus wasn't sure about his dancing skills, but when he joined in with the others singing, he was surprised that he was able to sing in key with the record.

_When you come home  
(re, re, re, re)_

"Oh, when ya come home, baby!" Azalea continued to sing.

_Or you might walk in  
(respect, just a little bit)_

"Shake it, Severus!" Azalea called out, which resulted in Severus immediately stopping shaking whatever it was he had been.

But Steve just laughed and grabbed Severus' hand to turn him around so he did not have to see Azalea looking at him.

Steve and the others continued to dance, so Severus resumed his attempts, too, paying close attention to Steve and Angel to mimic what they were doing. But surprisingly, DeWard was a best dancer of them all.

_And find out I'm gone  
(just a little bit)  
I got to have  
(just a little bit)_

"I gotta have it!" Azalea sang.

A little respect  
(just a little bit)  


"Just a little respect, baby!" Azalea continued, as the song ended and the record player stopped.

"Give me my propers, baby!" Azalea sang, still smiling up at Severus. "Just some respect, honey! And all of your money! Come on and shake it, baby! Come on and shake it, Severus!"

This reference to his name again brought Severus up short.

"Shake, shake, shake, shake, it, it, it, it, Severus!_"_ Azalea continued to sing to the tune of the record that had just ended. She seemed singularly pleased with her own creativity.

"_S-E-V-E-R-U-S_!" she continued to sing. "Find out what it means to us!"

By this time, everyone else was laughing. Severus did not know whether to laugh also, or to be angry.

"_S-E-V-E-R-U-S_!" Azalea continued. "Why yo' always make a fuss?"

By this time both Angel and Steve had fallen to the ground, laughing. DeWard and Dawn were also laughing, and even Yesmina was chuckling. Free had a serene smile.

"Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me..." Azalea continued, but before she could finish, Severus interrupted her.

"_A-Z-A-L-E-A,"_ he sang back at her, drawing out the 'E'. "Why are you crazy every day?_ A-Z-A-L-E-A,_ maybe now we'll get some peace I pray!_"_

Everyone who had been laughing stopped. Steve followed Angel's lead in crawling backwards as far away from Azalea as they could get, and DeWard grabbed Dawn and pulled her into the minibus out of harm's way.

"You have a nice voice, too, man," Free observed, still smiling serenely and seemingly oblivious to the impending danger.

However, Azalea was in too good a mood for it to change.

"Yeah, yo' voice is okay," she observed with a glint in her eye, as she continued to braid Free's hair. "But yo' can't rhyme worth shit!"

Severus sat down in the spot Steve had been sitting in, and then yawned.

The afternoon was very warm, and Yesmina, DeWard, and Dawn were already falling asleep inside the minibus.

"I'm going to take a nap," Severus announced, leaning over and grabbing a sleeping bag, which he rolled into a pillow. "Wake me when something actually _happens _here!"

"Good idea," Angel concurred. "The concert's going to go on late into the night once it starts, so we should get some sleep now..."

Steve was standing in the opening of the canopy, looking up at the sky. Then he turned around without saying a word and lay down next to Angel.

"You guy's _sure_ you got that five-spot to pay up on our bet?" he asked.

"Sure," Angel answered smugly. "We're good for it."

Steve didn't say anything, just crossed his arms under his head and closed his eyes, a big grin on his face.

Severus was not sure how much time had gone by, but it was very quiet under the canopy.

This was not to say that it was quiet. It was hard to tell just how many people were now at the concert, but the sound of the crowd was a low rumble. He could still hear the ubiquitous hammering from the stage area, where it now sounded like someone was tuning a guitar. Someone else was periodically beating a large drum.

Severus opened his eyes. Yesmina, DeWard, and Dawn were still asleep in the minibus, as were Angel and Steve beside him. Azalea and Free were nowhere in sight.

He sat up and stretched. The air was still and dense. The sun for some reason was no longer shining brightly.

As the audio system continued to broadcast the sound of someone tuning a guitar, Severus realized that it was not a drum he thought he had heard also playing, but the periodic roll of thunder. And that the reason the sun was no longer shining was because it indeed was no longer shining.

Another soft, distant roll of thunder sounded as an announcer spoke on the audio system.

_"Ladies and gentlemen...Mr. Richie Havens!"_

A cheer arose from the crowd that was almost like thunder. Severus could hear a guitar strumming, and then a man singing.

_There's a high flyin' bird,  
Flying way up in the sky,  
And I wonder if she looks down,  
As she goes on by?  
Well, she's flying so freely in the sky. _

Lord, look at me here,  
I'm rooted like a tree here,  
Got those sit-down, can't cry  
Oh Lord, gonna die blues.

Another faint roll of thunder sounded in the distance.

"Told you so," Steve mumbled. "Pay up."

"Ain't rainin' yet!" Angel mumbled in turn, sitting up and rubbing his eyes and looking around. "Where's Azalea and Free?"

Severus shrugged. Yesmina and the others stirred inside the minibus.

_Now I had a woman  
Lord, she lived down by the mine,  
She ain't never seen the sun,  
Oh Lord, never stopped crying. _

Then one day my woman up and died,  
Lord, she up and died now.  
Oh Lord, she up and died now.  
She wanted to die,  
And the only way to fly is die, die, die.

Severus thought it a decidedly odd song the man was singing.

"Has the concert started?" Yesmina asked sleepily, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, it sounds like it," Angel answered.

_There's a high flyin' bird,  
Flying way up in the sky,  
And I wonder if she looks down  
As she goes on by?  
Well, she's flying so freely in the sky._

Another roll of thunder sounded. Steve smirked at Angel, who said nothing.

"It sounds like it's going to rain," Yesmina observed. "Maybe we should put everything inside the car..."

"It ain't gonna rain!" Angel insisted, but to Severus it looked like the sky was getting darker and the thunder getting louder.

"It's going to rain," Dawn said.

"It looks like it's gonna rain," DeWard agreed.

"It _ain't_ gonna _rain_!" Angel repeated, standing up. At that moment, thunder sounded much closer, and Azalea and Free came back under the canopy, carrying cold sodas for everyone.

"It's, like, going to rain, man," Free observed. "You might want to, like, get your stuff inside, man, if you don't want it to get wet, man."

Angel glared at her in exasperation as Severus picked up his duffle bag and put it inside the minibus. He made sure he took some money out and put it in his pocket before exiting the vehicle.

It was going to rain.

"What yo' all bug eye about?" Azalea demanded, staring at Angel, who didn't answer.

"He made a bet with Steve that it wouldn't rain," Severus told her.

"Why yo' do a stupid thing like _that_, asshole?" Azalea asked Angel, who just stormed out of the canopy.

"I coulda told yo' it gonna rain tonight!" Azalea called after him. "Any asshole know we get thunderstorms when it this hot!"

Azalea shook her head and mumbled "Asshole!", before stating to the others, "Well, we better get all this shit inside the car unless you all want it soaking wet when we come back!"

So they all set to work loading the blankets and quilts and sleeping bags and various duffle bags and satchels into the minibus.

There was some discussion about whether they should take down the canopy or not. Angel, who had come back by this time, and was still insisting that it wasn't going to rain, was adamant that it was too much work to take the canopy down and put it back up, and so he felt it should stay.

Everyone else was convinced that it _would_ rain, but the question was how much, and how severe the storm might be. Most felt that if it was just a passing storm, which would not be worth the effort to take the canopy down and put it back up, and that it would be okay for it to get wet, as it would dry out in the summer sun the next day.

Only Steve and Dawn, thinking of tornadoes back home, insisted that the canopy should come down because of the potential for high winds, and in the end, they succeeded in swaying the others to their viewpoint.

Therefore, the canopy came down and was laid on the ground with the poles next to the minibus.

Severus was not sure how much time had gone by since the concert had started, it seemed a very long time, more than an hour, yet it seemed that the same man was singing on stage.

"Well, at least I won't have to worry about the sun," Yesmina joked to Severus, as she took the bottles of commercial and homemade sunscreens out of her bag and put them in her duffle bag inside the van.

"Do you have the medicine I made you for your bleeding?" Severus asked her. Yesmina reached into her bag and pulled out a glass bottle with a cork stopper that was half-filled with a dark liquid.

"And I have bandages and gauze pads, just in case," she told him.

"Yesmina, you should have told me you only had half a bottle, I would have made you more!"

"I forgot!" she whined. "In all the excitement getting ready to come here, I didn't want to bother you..."

Severus sighed and went back into the minibus to open his own duffle bag. He took out a small satchel of what he had designated his Magickal First Aid Kit, composed of various herbs, roots, seeds, and powdered compounds that were useful in emergencies, especially for someone like Yesmina who could start hemorrhaging with little provocation.

If he had time he could make an elixir, but for the time being, if the need arose, he could give Yesmina the necessary substances in their pure form.

In addition to substances that could control and stop bleeding, there were also substances to stop infection, soothe abrasions, and those that would stop pain of various sorts. Some of the painkillers were very powerful, and needed to be administered carefully.

Severus also made sure that he had his wand packed in the bag, and then slung the satchel over his head before leaving the vehicle.

Yesmina was waiting for him just outside the minibus, while the others were standing outside the back entrance to the Free Kitchen. Severus noticed that their area in the back had been cordoned off with rope to keep concert attendees from wandering back there.

"We thought we'd try to grab something to eat before going down there," Angel explained, as they entered the tent. As always, Annie was there, sitting on a stool and stirring something in a pot.

"Hi, kids!" she called out, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand and looking tired. "You heading down to the stage?"

"Yeah," Azalea answered, looking critically at what was being served. "But what you got to eat first?"

"We got broccoli, and we got pasta with sauce, honey," Annie sighed. "Not much else, because we're already running short on supplies...they can't get any food trucks in here, there's too many people! Rumor has it that all the roads are closed around here for ten miles!"

Annie sighed, put her stirring spoon down, and pressed both hands into the small of her back.

"It's been so darn hot, and my back's killing me!" she exclaimed. "Thank goodness it's going to rain, that will cool it down some!"

Everyone turned to stare at Angel, who just harrumphed and looked away.

"I hope you kids put everything into the minibus so that it doesn't get wet," Annie observed, resuming stirring her pot.

"Yes, Annie!" Steve answered, standing as tall as he could and flashing the broadest, sweetest smile he could manage. "I strongly impressed on the others that, based on my experience on my farm back in Indiana, that all the signs pointed to some sort of a rainstorm occurring later today! We even took down your canopy, just to be on the safe side!"

He smiled at Annie, but flashed Angel a quick smirk.

"Oh, that's great!" Annie exclaimed. "So what will you kids have, some pasta? I could wrangle up some slices of bread to have with it, if you want?"

"The pasta'll be fine!" Azalea decided. "Yo' can keep that broccoli!"

Annie laughed and directed them to where the pasta was being served. The children wolfed down their meal, grabbed some cans of cold soda, and then headed toward the area of the stage.

Or tried to. There were so many people, it was difficult to even see the stage, let alone know for sure that was where they were headed. They used the sound of the singer as a guide for the direction more than their own vision.

And it seemed that it was still the same man singing. Severus wondered how long each singer actually was going to sing. It had to have been at least two hours since he started.

Indeed, it seemed that perhaps the man had finally finished, because the singing stopped for quite some time as they made their way along the edge of the crowd, which was the easiest way to get closer to the stage.

It was hard to see what was going on, since there were so many people standing, packed in close together, that the children could neither see over or around them.

They finally spied a small opening in a fence that seemed designed to keep the audience from wandering into the backstage area. The opening would be difficult for an adult to get through, but posed little difficulty to eight children.

Actually, for seven normal children. The boys spread the boards wider for Yesmina to get through, so that she wouldn't risk cutting herself.

By this time, a light rain had begun to fall. Steve grinned broadly at Angel and held out his hand. Before Angel could say anything, Severus reached into his pocket, pulled out a five-dollar bill, and put it into Steve's palm.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you!" Steve grinned, before turning and joining the girls.

"What!?" Angel asked gruffly, seeing the look on Severus' face.

"Next time ask me _my_ opinion first, before you go betting _my_ money!" Severus stated firmly, before he too turned and went to join the others. Angel ran to catch up with him.

"You owe me five dollars!" Severus ordered him, before he could say anything.

"Hey, amigo, I..." Angel started.

"You owe me five dollars!" Severus observed matter-of-factly. "It was _your_ bet that _you _lost. So you owe me."

Angel gave him a strange look, but said nothing.

At that moment, a guitar started being played on the stage. The sound was much louder, now that they were so close to it.

"We gotta keep him on stage!" a man nearby was shouting at another man. "We don't have anyone else to go on!"

"He's been on for almost three hours now, man!" the other man responded. "He's tired! He ain't got no more songs to sing!"

At that moment whomever was on stage commenced to sing. It indeed still sounded like the man who had been singing since the concert started.

_Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom_

Azalea turned to face Free.

"How come there so many song about _you_!" she laughed. Free chuckled.

"We can sing about you too, Azalea!" she decided, and started singing "Azalea" every time the singer on stage sang the word "Freedom".

_Sometimes I feel  
Like a motherless child  
Sometimes I feel  
Like a motherless child  
Sometimes I feel  
Like a motherless child  
A long way  
From my home, yeah  
Yeah_

The children made their way to within a few yards of the stage, on the left side if they'd been sitting facing it. There were big metal towers on either side of the stage on which huge amplifiers were mounted.

A few empty wooden crates were scattered about, so the boys gathered them up and stacked them so that they could climb up and get a better view of both the stage and the audience.

_Sing Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom  
_

"Azalea! Azalea!" both Free and Azalea sang, with Yesmina joining in.

_Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom _

Sometimes I feel  
Like I'm almost gone  
Sometimes I feel  
Like I'm almost gone  
Sometimes I feel  
Like I'm almost gone, yeah  
A long, long, long way  
Way from my home, yeah  
Yeah  


While Azalea, Free and Yesmina were having a good time turning the song into a song about Azalea, Severus was actually listening to the lyrics, and suddenly felt very homesick.

He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out Lily's flower, which was now just barely opening and closing.

_Clap your hands  
Clap your hands  
Clap your hands  
Clap your hands_

The audience was clapping their hands as instructed. Azalea, Free, and Yesmina clapped their hands, and DeWard and Dawn joined in. Steve and Angel looked at each other, laughed, shrugged, and started clapping.

Severus did not clap. He just gazed at Lily's flower. Yesmina stopped clapping and bent down to be able to look into his face.

"You okay, Sev?" she asked.

"Yeah," he lied, glad that the soft rain hid the tears that had formed in his eyes.

_Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Hey, yeah yeah yeah yeah _

I got a telephone in my bosom  
And I can call him up from my heart  
I got a telephone in my bosom  
And I can call him up from my heart

When I need my brother (brother)  
Brother (brother)

When I need my father (father)  
Father, hey (father)

Mother (mother)  
Mother, hey (mother)

Severus quickly wiped his eyes and looked over at Free. He would have to find an opportunity to ask her about the magickal people she knew over here, especially if she knew anyone who could apparate. If there was someone who could do that, perhaps he could convince them to take him home, or at least get him back to somewhere in England.

_When I need my brother (brother)  
Brother, hey (brother) _

Mother (father)  
Mother (mother)  
Mother (mother)

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Yeah-yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah

The music finally stopped, and the singer thanked the audience as they cheered, and then he left the stage for good.

"You miss them, don't you?" Yesmina asked Severus.

"Huh?" he asked, startled out of his reverie.

"Your people," Yesmina answered. "Especially the girl who gave you that flower."

"I don't want to talk about it!" Severus announced, jumping off the crate and walking away.

"Hey, dude, where ya goin'?" he heard Angel call out to him.

"I have to go take a leak, is that alright with you!?" Severus snarled. He knew he should not have answered Angel that way. Angel had always been his friend from the first day that they had met. However, he really needed to be alone right now, and did not feel in any mood to try to explain himself.

He wandered toward the back of the stage area as some man on the stage started giving a sort of convocation, Severus did not bother listening to it. He was lost in his own depressive thoughts.

He was so deep in thought that he did not notice the big machine coming out of the sky almost on top of him until it was almost too late. He dived under a bush just in the nick of time.

As he crawled out from under it, the big machine landed with much noise and wind about 20 feet in front of him. It had wheels on the bottom and a window in front, and a big opening in it's side, but it's most distinguishing feature were blades rotating on top of it, and another smaller set of blades whirling on it's tail.

Severus had seen many of the Muggle flying machines in the sky when he had been in New York City. Angel had tried to explain to him how such things flew, but Severus never quite understood.

However, what he had seen back in the city at least had wings; this thing had no wings, and Severus could not understand how it could possibly fly. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought it impossible.

A couple of people came out of the side of the flying machine once the spinning blades had slowed down. They ran in a crouch until they had cleared the flying machine, and then they stood up.

A couple of the men were carrying oddly shaped cases, and Severus realized that those must be guitars. There was also a very pretty woman with them with long, dark hair. She was wearing a raincoat and was also carrying a guitar, and as someone ushered them into an area backstage, he heard him call her "Joan".

"You tryin' to get yourself killed, kid!?" a voice behind Severus demanded. He turned to face a rather rotund man with long red hair and beard wearing a cowboy hat, with big beefy arms crossed on his chest.

A tattoo of a topless and well-endowed mermaid adorned his lower left arm, marred by a Band-Aid crossing a rather tasteless area of the mermaid's body. On his lower right arm was a large red heart with a banner encircling it proclaiming "Mom".

"You're in a restricted area, kid!" the man growled. "You could get yourself and others killed, coming too close to the landing pad like that!"

"Oh!" Severus exclaimed. "I'm sorry! I sort of lost my way!"

He lowered his voice and leaned closer to the man.

"I was just looking for a place to take a leak, sorry!"

Whether it was Severus' demeanor, or the unexpected English accent, the man's attitude softened.

"This ain't the place to take a leak, kid!" he laughed. "Too many choppers coming in and out, you'll get your dick chopped off!"

The man guffawed, as if this was the cleverest joke ever made. Severus was not quite as amused.

"Listen kid, see that opening over there?" the man asked, pointing to where the woman called Joan and the others had just gone. "Just go through there, take a left, go to the end and you'll find where the portable toilets have been set up for staff. If anyone asks, just tell them Big Ed said it's okay!"

"Uhh, thanks," Severus stammered, as Big Ed turned away and went to talk to the pilot of the helicopter.

Severus did not really need to use the bathroom at that moment, but then realized the opportunity might not come again for some time, so he may as well take advantage of it.

As he headed for the opening backstage, another performer started singing on the stage.

Severus cautiously made his way through the opening, and saw an area set up that seemed to be under the back of the stage, and had rooms and hallways created by sheets of canvas hanging from the ceiling.

He turned left as he had been instructed, and saw a relatively long hallway, with an opening at the end through which he could spot some blue cubicles labeled "Port-a-Potty".

Severus headed in that direction. He heard someone in a room on the right coughing persistently, but continued down the hall. He was almost to the end when a man came out of a room on the right. Behind him, Severus could see the woman named Joan who had just gotten off the flying machine.

"What are you doing back here?" the man asked.

"Uh, Big Ed said it was alright," Severus stammered. The woman turned around and looked at him when he spoke. "He said I could come in here to use the bathroom."

The woman smiled and turned away. The man smirked and said, "Oh, yeah, they're just over there!" He pointed to the opening in the canvas through which the Port-a-Potties were visible.

"Thanks!" Severus answered, heading in that direction. He made quick use of one of the available devices, and then returned to the hallway he had come in by.

But he stopped just inside the hallway, wondering if there was someplace where he could wash his hands.

"Is something wrong?"

It was the woman named Joan. She was sitting with the man who had previously spoken to Severus.

"Uh, no..."Severus mused. "I just wondered if there was somewhere I could wash my hands?" Joan smirked.

"Good question!" she stated. "In fact, let _me_ know if you find any water, because I could really use a cup of tea!"

"You should have said something!" the man with her responded. "There's a water truck out back, and a little kitchen area where we can make you some tea..."

"That would be wonderful," Joan answered. "I'll need something for my throat, if I'm to be able to sing anything later on..."

"Come on," the man indicated to Severus, getting up and coming out into the hall, "I'll show you where it is."

Severus followed him down the hall, past the room with the person with the persistent cough. Some people passed them as they came to the end of the hall, and turned left.

After going a short way, the man who Severus was following ducked into a room on the left. Severus saw that it had a few tables and chairs, and an area in the corner strung with many extension cords to which things like hotplates and coffee percolators were attached. There was even a small refrigerator.

The man grabbed a kettle, and then came back out into the hall, and out an opening a few feet away.

Just outside was a spigot, to which a hose was attached. The man picked up the hose, pressed the nozzle, and first rinsed out the kettle, and then filled it with water. He then handed the nozzle to Severus.

"Here, wash your hands if you want," he said, before ducking back inside.

Severus rinsed his hands, and wished he had Azalea's bar of soap with him...

He dropped the hose back on the ground, and then stood with his hands out, shaking them in an attempt to dry them. However, since there was still a misty rain coming down, the attempt to dry his hands was futile.

He went back inside and into the kitchenette, hoping to find a towel. The man had put the kettle on a hotplate to boil, and had a mug nearby. But at that moment, someone called to his regarding some other problem.

He turned to Severus. "I assume you know how to make a cup of tea?" Severus nodded.

"When the water comes to a boil, just make a cup for Joan and bring it to her, okay?"

Severus nodded, and the man rushed out of the room.

As Severus waited for the water to boil, he noted that in addition to the commercial teabags nearby, that someone had also put a few boxes of loose tea leaves of different varieties. He studied these carefully, then reached into his Magickal First Aid Kit and retrieved some of his own supplies, including a tea ball that Annie had given him.

He carefully measured into the tea ball the various substances from his bag, then added a mixture of two of the varieties of loose tea leaves. He placed the tea ball into an available mug, and poured the now boiling water over it.

He turned the hotplate off and put the kettle back on it. He looked around and spotted a plastic bottle filled with honey in the shape of a teddy bear. Once the tea had steeped, he removed the tea ball and squeezed a small amount of honey into the mug, and then stirred it with a plastic spork he retrieved from a box nearby.

He emptied the tea ball onto the ground, wiped it out, and replaced it in his satchel. He then took his wand out, waved it over the mug, and said a few words he remembered his mother saying when she made this same drink for him when he had a sore throat.

Severus then replaced his wand in his satchel, and carried the tea back to Joan.

It was still steaming, so she thanked Severus, took the mug, and blew on it before taking a tentative sip. She looked up at Severus with surprise...

"This is very good!" Joan stated. "I've never tasted anything like it! Do you know what brand it is?"

"It's no brand," Severus explained. "It's something my mum makes for me when my throat hurts..."

"_You_ made this?" Joan asked, raising her eyebrows. "You're very talented."

"Severus", he answered. "My name is Severus."

"_'Severus'_," Joan repeated. "My name is Joan."

She took another sip of the tea. The persistent coughing continued a short way up the hall.

"This really _is_ good for my throat!" Joan observed. "Thank you, Severus! I'm the last person scheduled to perform tonight, and I wasn't sure my throat would hold out in this weather..."

The coughing up the hall continued.

"It sounds like someone else is having the same problem!" Joan stated, leaning towards Severus and lowering her voice.

At that moment, they heard other people out in the hallway, and someone enter one of the other rooms. Someone was mumbling "Get him a guitar! _Any _guitar!" Someone else mumbled, somewhat incoherently, "I'm just here to watch, man!" Yet a third person stated, "We need you to go on, John! The other performers haven't been able to get here yet!"

There had been a pause in the sound coming from the stage above, but at that very moment, they heard the performer call out to the audience.

"_Give me an 'F'!"_

To which the audience tentatively responded, "_F!"_

"_Give me a 'U'!"_

The audience, now getting a clue as to what the performer was spelling, more enthusiastically called back, _"U!"_

_"Give me a 'C'!"_

The audience roared, _"C!"_

_"Give me a 'K'!"_

_"K!"_

_"What's that spell?"_

_"FUCK!"_ the audience roared.

_"What's that spell?" _

"FUCK!"

"What's that spell?"

FUCK!" the audience roared, cheering as the performer launched into another song. 

Joan chuckled as she finished her mug of tea, and Severus heard the somewhat incoherent person in the next room laugh, "What the fuck?"

"You gotta go on next, John! Everyone else is delayed; they've closed the roads, man! There's something like _300,000_ people out there, man! There's _never_ been a concert this big, man!"

Whether any of this information got through to the man named John or not, Severus was not sure, as they helped him stumble out of the room and presumably up onto the stage.

However, when the mention of 300,000 people and this being the biggest concert ever held was made, the coughing from the room up the hall got worse. Joan handed Severus the mug.

"Could you make me another cup of tea, Severus?"

"Sure," he answered, taking the mug and heading back to the kitchenette.

More people were milling in the hallways now, especially at the entrance to the room with the coughing person.

Severus went back and forth. In all, he made Joan four cups of tea, in addition to running errands for various other people.

During the times that they found themselves alone together, Joan had prodded him to tell her something about himself, but he only talked in generalities, and thankfully they weren't often alone, as many people continued to come and go.

After a few more performers had been on stage, Severus heard someone singing the song about the carpenter he had heard on the radio that morning.

_If I were a carpenter  
And you were a lady,  
Would you marry me anyway?  
Would you have my baby? _

If a tinker were my trade  
Would you still find me,  
Carrying the pots I made,  
Following behind me.

Save my love through loneliness,  
Save my love for sorrow,  
I've given you my onlyness,  
Come give your tomorrow.

"What's that song called?" Severus asked Joan.

"_'If I Were A Carpenter'_," she answered, taking the mug. "That's Tim Hardin singing right now."

Severus thought that before he eventually returned to England, he would like to buy a copy of that song, and give it to Lily.

After Tim Hardin stopped playing, some decidedly strange music issued forth from the stage area above. Someone said that it was something called sitar music and that it was from Pakistan. The person performing was called Ravi something-or-other, and it was hinted that he was some sort of mystical holy man.

This tweaked Severus' interest, and so someone showed him how to get above, onto the back of the stage itself.

He saw an older man with long hair and a long beard and wearing a robe, sitting cross-legged on the stage with other performers, playing some sort of instrument that made a decidedly irritating whining sound.

Severus was not sure just how mystical or holy any of it was. It was now pouring, the performers were soaked, as was the audience. Severus looked around, and spied his friends off to the right.

He could see that they were shocked to see him on stage, which made him feel good. Azalea was mouthing "What the fuck?" He just waved at them, and then went back under the stage to get out of the rain.

Someone was saying that the crowd was now half a million, and the mysterious cougher suddenly started coughing so rapidly, it sounded like a machine gun.

Severus made his way back to Joan's room; she was sipping another cup of his tea.

"Would you like any more?" he asked her.

She took a swallow, and then handed the mostly-filled mug to Severus.

"No, you know, I'm fine..." she answered. "But why don't you take this over to Melanie down the hall, she sounds like she definitely needs it!"

Severus assumed that Joan was referring to the person with the terrible cough, so he left without a word, and went into the room where the machine-gun-like coughing was coming.

The cougher was a pretty girl with light brown hair. She looked up at Severus when he entered but didn't say a word, just continued her nonstop coughing.

"Joan said to give this to you," Severus said, handing the mug to who he assumed was Melanie.

"Thank you," she whispered, taking the mug and sipping it. She looked up at Severus in surprise.

"This is good stuff!" she exclaimed, her cough now gone. She gulped down the rest of the tea.

"Can you get me another cup of that stuff?" she asked, so Severus made yet another trip back to the kitchenette. When he returned with the tea, the terrible whining music from above had finished, and someone called out, "Melanie, you're next!"

Melanie grabbed the mug and quickly sipped the still-hot tea, then grabbed a guitar.

"Thanks, kid," she called out, handing the mug back to Severus as she left. "You'll never know how much that helped!"

But since she was no longer coughing, Severus had a good idea how much it had helped.

He went out to where the spigot was, and washed out the cup, although by this time the rain was coming down so hard that he could have just held the cup out to wash it.

Melanie had started singing. She had a beautiful voice.

Severus smiled. Yes, he had a good idea how much his tea had helped.

He returned the mug to the kitchenette, oblivious to the fact that he was pretty well drenched by the rain. He decided that it was about time that he returned to his friends, so he made his way out the back entrance and around the side to where they were sitting.

"How'd you get on stage, dude!" Angel demanded. Azalea glared at him with an expression that was a mixture of anger and jealousy.

"I dunno," Severus answered. "Some guy just sent me back where the bathrooms are, and I ended up where the people who are singing are waiting, and they said I could go up and watch from the back..."

Everyone looked at him in awe, except for Free who was her usual serene self and intent on watching Melanie sing; and Azalea, who crossed her arms and pouted.

Melanie finished one song, and before she started another, Severus stated, "I met her. Backstage. She wouldn't stop coughing so I gave her some tea to help."

They looked at him in amazement. Except for Free and Azalea.

"Now yo' just lyin'" Azalea insisted.

"Am not!" Severus retorted. "I was making tea for someone named Joan who's going to sing, and _she_ said to bring some to Melanie, so I did!"

"'_Joan'_?" Yesmina asked. "You don't mean Joan Baez, do you?"

"I dunno," Severus answered. "She didn't say..."

"That's the only 'Joan' scheduled to sing tonight," Steve observed. "She's the last person scheduled to perform."

Azalea's arms were still crossed, and she turned her back on Severus and pouted.

"That's far out, man," Free finally said, as Melanie started playing another song.

_You live in the same world as I do  
But somehow I never noticed  
You before today  
I'm ashamed to say _

Beautiful people  
We share the same back door  
And isn't it right  
We never met before  
But then we may never meet again

If I weren't afraid you'd laugh at me  
I would run and take all your hands  
And I'd gather everyone together for a day  
And when we gathered  
I'll pass buttons out that say

Beautiful people  
Then you'd never have to be alone  
'Cause there'll always be someone  
With the same button on as you  
Include him in everything you do

DeWard and Dawn were yawning and fighting to keep their eyes open. Severus realized how tired he felt, also.

_Beautiful people  
You ride the same subway  
As I do ev'ry morning  
That's got to tell you something  
We've got so much in common_

"We probably should start heading back," Steve observed, looking over at his sister. "Or else we'll end up having to carry these two..."

"I can walk!" DeWard complained.

"Me too!" Dawn added.

_I go the same direction that you do  
So if you take care of me  
Maybe I'll take care of you _

Beautiful people  
You look like friends of mine  
And it's about time  
That someone said it here and now

I make a vow that some time, somehow  
I'll have a meeting  
Invite ev'ryone you know  
I'll pass out buttons  
The one's who come to show

Beautiful people  
Never have to be alone  
'Cause there'll always be someone  
With the same button on as you  
Include him in ev'rything you do

He may be beautiful people, too  
And if you take care of him  
Maybe I'll take care of you  
And if you take care of him  
Maybe I'll take care of you...  
(People)  


"Come on," Steve stated, getting up and helping his sister down from the crate she'd been sitting on. "Let's get back to our camper..."

No one else said anything, but it was obvious that everyone was feeling tired, so they slowly made their way away from the stage through the crowd. The rain wasn't coming down as hard as it been, but was still falling at a steady pace. Severus was glad that Azalea had pulled his hair back into a ponytail.

"Beautiful people..." Free was singing softly. "Never have to be alone..."

Someone on stage was exclaiming "Far out, man!", and then stated that a million and a half people were expected there by tonight.

"_New York State Thruway's closed, man!"_ he shouted, and the crowd cheered... He then launched into song.

"A _million_ people?" Angel exclaimed. "Do you believe it, man?"

Severus looked around at the mass of soaked humanity. In the dark, it was hard to tell just how many people there were. But there were a lot. A million seemed as good a number as any.

"It's like a city," Steve observed, picking up Dawn who had started to drag her feet and fall behind.

"It's, like, the gathering of the tribes, man," Free mused. "An Aquarian city for the new age, man..."

"It's muddy!" Azalea complained, obviously not as impressed as the others...

The walked on in silence, listening to the singer on stage.

He started to sing _"Amazing Grace",_ and the audience started to sing along. Severus thought that it sounded both beautiful and frightening at the same time.

Yes, he believed that there could be a million people out there in the dark.

They reached the area where Steve's parents had their camper.

"Want to get together tomorrow?" he asked, looking at Angel.

"Sure," Angel answered. "Meet us at the Free Kitchen for lunch..."

They said goodnight to Steve and Dawn, and then headed back to their own camp.

Free indicated that she and her parents had come to the concert in a modified school bus, much like the one Annie and Benjie's friends had been driving, and that her bus was parked not too far away from the Free School.

"If it's, like, too small in your minibus, man," she offered, "you can come crash at our pad, man."

A woman's voice that Severus recognized came from the stage. She was telling the audience something about the government taking her husband away and putting him in prison.

"That's Joan," Severus announced. "The woman I made the tea for."

"That _is_ Joan Baez!" Yesmina gushed. "You made tea for Joan Baez!"

Joan started singing about someone named Joe Hill.

"Is she someone important?" Severus asked.

"She's pretty famous," Yesmina stated.

"She, like, used to date Bob Dylan, man" Free added. Severus had no idea who Bob Dylan was, nor why he should be impressed with that information.

However, he did think Joan had a beautiful singing voice.

They again fell into silence as they slowly made there way back, listening to the songs that Joan offered.

_I was lost in the deep and darkest night  
No direction,  
Not a single hope in sight  
When I saw a fire burning brightly through  
The storm that raged above  
In the shadows  
Of your warm and tender love _

I was a stranger to the land and life around  
In constant danger,  
Being hurt by what I found  
And of hurting what I treasured most

"Good night," Free murmured softly, as they came up to the now-dark Free Kitchen..

"We'll see you tomorrow," Azalea told her, stifling a yawn. "But not too early -- I need my beauty sleep!"

Angel smirked and harrumphed at that statement, but Azalea was too tired to take notice.

"Oh...yeah, okay," Free answered before leaving them.

Azalea led the way towards the minibus, with Angel and Severus bringing up the rear.

"When does the concert start tomorrow?" Severus asked him, as Joan started another song.

_We shall overcome  
We shall overcome  
We shall overcome someday  
Deep in my heart, I do believe  
We shall overcome someday_

Azalea, Yesmina, and DeWard up ahead hooked their arms together and started to sing along.

_We'll walk hand in hand  
We'll walk hand in hand  
We'll walk hand in hand someday  
Deep in my heart, I do believe  
We'll walk hand in hand someday_

"Not until late in the day, I think," Angel answered Severus. "We can sleep late..."

"_Psssst!"_ someone called to them from the trees off to the side. Angel and Severus paused.

We shall live in peace  
We shall live in peace  
We shall live in peace someday  
Here in my heart, I do believe  
We shall live in peace someday

"_Psssst!"_ they heard again, and saw two guys, teenagers probably, gesturing for them to come over. Severus and Angel glanced at each other, and then Angel took a few wary steps closer.

"Whaddya want?" Angel asked.

_We are not afraid  
We are not afraid  
We are not afraid today  
Deep in my heart, I do believe  
We shall overcome someday_

"You wanna make a couple of bucks?" one of the teenagers asked, while the other one smirked.

"How?" Angel asked warily.

"Nothin' bad," the boy answered. "We just need someone to make somethin', man, while we're out, uh, 'distributing' it..."

The boy displayed a few small pieces of blotter paper to Angel. In the darkness, Severus could not tell what they were, but Angel seemed to understand.

"How much?" he demanded.

"Five bucks each," was the answer.

"Twenty bucks," Angel countered. "Each."

"_What_!?" the teenagers both exclaimed.

"You're fuckin' crazy!" the first one added.

"Fine," Angel answered. "You're gonna make at least that much just on what you have in your hand. You want us to make more for you, you pay us that much!"

The teenager paused.

"Ten bucks. Each," he offered. Angel thought about it.

"Okay," he accepted.

"Okay," the teenager agreed. "Come on, it's over here." He turned with his friend and went deeper into the woods.

"_What_ did you just get us into!?" Severus demanded. Angel just grinned.

"Don't worry, amigo," he answered, "I just made good on getting you that five dollars back, and then some. Come on!"

He started following the older boys into the woods. Severus paused, and then shrugged and followed after Angel.

We shall overcome  
We shall overcome  
We shall overcome someday  
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe  
We shall overcome someday

_

* * *

_

I'd like to play a game,  
That is so much fun,  
And it's not so very hard to do,  
The name of the game is Simple Simon says,  
And I would like for you to play it too

Put your hands in the air,  
Simple Simon says,  
Shake them all about,  
Simple Simon says,  
Do it when Simon says,  
Simple Simon says,  
And you will never be out.

Simple Simon says,  
Put your hands on your head,  
Let your back bone slip,  
Simon says,  
Simple Simon says,  
Put your hands on your head,  
Let your back bone slip,  
Simon says,

Put your hands on your head,  
Simple Simon says,  
Bring them down by your side,  
Simple Simon says,  
Shake them to your left,  
Simple Simon Says,  
Now shake them to your right,

Put your hands on your head,  
Simple Simon says,  
Bring them down by your side,  
Simple Simon says,  
Shake them to your left,  
Simple Simon Says,  
Now shake them to your right,

Now that you have learnt,  
To play this game with me,  
You can see its not so hard to do,  
Lets try it once again,  
This time more carefully,  
And I hope the winner will be you.

Clap your hands in the air,  
Simple Simon says,  
Do it double time,  
Simple Simon says,  
Slow it down like before,  
Simple Simon says,  
Ah, your looking fine.  
Simple Simon says,

Now clap them high in the air,  
Simple Simon says,  
Do it double time,  
Simple Simon says,  
Slow it down like before,  
Simple Simon says,  
Ah, your looking fine.. 

**SIMON SAYS**  
The 1910 Fruitgum Company  
1968 

While I'm far away from you my baby  
I know it's hard for you my baby  
Because it's hard for me my baby  
And the darkest hour is just before dawn

Each night before you go to bed my baby  
Whisper a little prayer for me my baby  
And tell all the stars above  
This is dedicated to the one I love

Life can never be  
Exactly like we want it to be  
I could be satisfied knowing you love me

But there's one thing I want you to do Especially for me  
And it's something that everybody needs

While I'm far away from you my baby  
Whisper a little prayer for me my baby  
Because it's hard for me my baby  
And the darkest hour is just before dawn

If there's one thing I want you to do  
Especially for me  
And it's something that everybody needs

Each night before you go to bed my baby  
Whisper a little prayer for me my baby  
And tell all the stars above  
This is dedicated to the one I love

This is dedicated to the one I love  
This is dedicated to the one I love  
This is dedicated to the one I love  
This is dedicated...

**THIS IS DEDICATED TO THE ONE I LOVE  
**The Mamas and The Papas  
1967 

I see the bad moon arising  
I see trouble on the way  
I see earthquakes and lightnin'  
I see bad times today

Chorus:  
Don't go 'round tonight  
Well, its bound to take your life  
There's a bad moon on the rise

I hear a hurricane's a'blowing  
I know the end is comin' soon  
I fear river's over flowin'  
I hear the voice of rage and ruin

(Chorus)

All right!  
Hope you got your things together  
Hope you are quite prepared to die  
Looks like were in for nasty weather  
One eye is taken for an eye

(Chorus)

(Chorus)

**BAD MOON RISING  
**Credence Clearwater Revival  
1969 

You better think (think)  
Think about what you're tryin' to do to me

Think (think-think)  
Let your mind go let yourself be free

Let's go back  
Let's go back  
Let's go way on to way back when  
I didn't even know you  
You couldn't a'been too much more than ten  
(Just a child)

I ain't no psychiatrist  
I ain't no doctor with degrees  
But it don't take too much IQ  
To see what you're doin' to me

You better think (think)  
Think about what you're tryin' to do to me

Yeah think (think - think)  
Let your mind go let yourself be free

Oh freedom (freedom)  
Let's have some freedom (freedom)  
Oh freedom  
Yeah freedom (yeah)

You got to have freedom (freedom)  
Oh freedom (freedom)  
You need you some freedom  
Oh freedom  
Ya gotta have

Hey! Think about it  
You! think about it

There ain't nothin' you could ask  
I could answer you but I won't (I won't)

But I was gonna change ya I'm not if  
You keep doin' things I don't (don't)

You better think (think)  
Think about what you're tryin' to do to me  
(What you're tryin' ta do to me

Oh-oh-oh think (think)  
Let your mind go let yourself be free

People walkin' around everyday  
Playin' games and takin' scores  
Tryin' to make other people lose their minds  
Well be careful you don't lose yours

Oh think (think)  
Think about what you're tryin' to do to me

Woo-hoo think (think)  
Let your mind go let yourself be free

You need me (need me)  
And I need you (don'tcha know?)  
Without each other  
There ain't nothin' we two can do

Oooh, yeah think about it baby  
(Whatcha tryin' to do me - think!)  
Let it go baby  
Think about it right now

Yeah right now  
(think about ...forgiveness)  
Whoa right now  
(tell about ...forgiveness)  
Yeah right now  
(tell about ...forgiveness)

I need to change your mind  
(think about it)  
Baby baby baby woo  
(tell about it...forgiveness)  
Think about it baby  
(tell about forgiveness)

FADES-

Yeah woo-hoo  
(tell about forgiveness)  
Tell about it baby baby baby  
(think about it..)

**THINK  
**Aretha Franklin  
1968

Oooh, what you want  
Oooh, baby I got  
Oooh, what you need  
Oooh, do you know I got it?  
Oooh, all I'm askin'  
Oooh, is for a little respect  
When you come home (just a little bit)

Hey baby (just a little bit)  
When you get home (just a little bit)  
Mister (just a little bit)

I ain't gonna do you wrong  
While you're gone  
Ain't gonna do you wrong, oooh  
'Cause I don't wanna, oooh  
All I'm askin', oooh  
Is for a little respect  
When you come home (just a little bit)  
Baby (just a little bit)  
When you get home (just a little bit)  
Yeah (just a little bit)

I'm about to give you all of my money  
And all I'm askin' in return, honey  
Is to give me my propers  
When you get home  
(just a, just a, just a, just a)  
Yeah baby  
(just a, just a, just a, just a)  
When you get home (just a little bit)  
Yeah (just a little bit)

Oooh, your kisses, oooh  
Are sweeter than honey, oooh  
And guess what? Oooh,  
So here's my money, oooh  
All I want you to do, oooh, for me  
Is give it to me when you get home  
(re, re, re ,re)  
Yeah baby  
(re, re, re ,re)  
Whip it to me  
(respect, just a little bit)  
When you get home, now  
(just a little bit)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T  
Find out what it means to me  
R-E-S-P-E-C-T  
Take care, TCB

Oh!  
(Sock it to me, sock it to me)  
(Sock it to me, sock it to me)

A little respect  
(sock it to me, sock it to me)  
(sock it to me, sock it to me)

Whoa, babe (just a little bit)  
A little respect (just a little bit)  
I get tired (just a little bit)  
Keep on tryin' (just a little bit)

You're runnin' out a'foolin'  
(just a little bit)  
And I ain't lyin'  
(just a little bit)  
(re, re, re, re) 'spect

When you come home  
(re, re, re ,re)  
Or you might walk in  
(respect, just a little bit)  
And find out I'm gone  
(just a little bit)  
I got to have  
(just a little bit)  
A little respect  
(just a little bit)

**RESPECT  
**Aretha Franklin  
1967

* * *

**WOODSTOCK, DAY ONE**

_

* * *

_

There's a high flyin' bird,  
Flying way up in the sky,  
And I wonder if she looks down,  
As she goes on by?  
Well, she's flying so freely in the sky.

Lord, look at me here,  
I'm rooted like a tree here,  
Got those sit-down, can't cry  
Oh Lord, gonna die blues.

Now the sun it comes up  
And lights up the day,  
And when he gets tired, Lord,  
He goes on down his way,  
To the east and to the west,  
He meets God every day.

Lord, look at me here,  
I'm rooted like a tree here,  
Got those sit-down, can't cry  
Oh Lord, gonna die blues.

Now I had a woman  
Lord, she lived down by the mine,  
She ain't never seen the sun,  
Oh Lord, never stopped crying.

Then one day my woman up and died,  
Lord, she up and died now.  
Oh Lord, she up and died now.  
She wanted to die,  
And the only way to fly is die, die, die.

There's a high flyin' bird,  
Flying way up in the sky,  
And I wonder if she looks down  
As she goes on by?  
Well, she's flying so freely in the sky.

Lord, look at me here,  
I'm rooted like a tree here,  
Got those sit-down, can't cry,  
Oh, Lord, gonna die blues.

**HIGH FLYIN' BIRD**  
Richie Havens  
Woodstock - August 15, 1969

* * *

Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom

Sometimes I feel  
Like a motherless child  
Sometimes I feel  
Like a motherless child  
Sometimes I feel  
Like a motherless child  
A long way  
From my home, yeah  
Yeah

Sing Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom  
Freedom, Freedom

Sometimes I feel  
Like I'm almost gone  
Sometimes I feel  
Like I'm almost gone  
Sometimes I feel  
Like I'm almost gone, yeah  
A long, long, long way  
Way from my home, yeah  
Yeah

Clap your hands  
Clap your hands  
Clap your hands  
Clap your hands  
Clap your hands  
Clap your hands  
Clap your hands, yeah  
Clap your hands

Hey, hey, hey, hey  
Hey, yeah yeah yeah yeah  
Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Hey, yeah yeah yeah yeah

I got a telephone in my bosom  
And I can call him up from my heart  
I got a telephone in my bosom  
And I can call him up from my heart

When I need my brother (brother)  
Brother (brother)

When I need my father (father)  
Father, hey (father)

Mother (mother)  
Mother, hey (mother)

Sister (sister)  
Yeah (yeah)

When I need my brother (brother)  
Brother, hey (brother)

Mother (father)  
Mother (mother)  
Mother (mother)

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Yeah-yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah  
Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah

**FREEDOM/SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A MOTHERLESS CHILD**  
Richie Havens  
Woodstock - August 15, 1969

* * *

You live in the same world as I do  
But somehow I never noticed  
You before today  
I'm ashamed to say

Beautiful people  
We share the same back door  
And isn't it right  
We never met before  
But then we may never meet again

If I weren't afraid you'd laugh at me  
I would run and take all your hands  
And I'd gather everyone together for a day  
And when we gathered  
I'll pass buttons out that say

Beautiful people  
Then you'd never have to be alone  
'Cause there'll always be someone  
With the same button on as you  
Include him in everything you do

Beautiful people  
You ride the same subway  
As I do ev'ry morning  
That's got to tell you something  
We've got so much in common  
I go the same direction that you do  
So if you take care of me  
Maybe I'll take care of you

Beautiful people  
You look like friends of mine  
And it's about time  
That someone said it here and now

I make a vow that some time, somehow  
I'll have a meeting  
Invite ev'ryone you know  
I'll pass out buttons  
The one's who come to show

Beautiful people  
Never have to be alone  
'Cause there'll always be someone  
With the same button on as you  
Include him in ev'rything you do

He may be beautiful people, too  
And if you take care of him  
Maybe I'll take care of you  
And if you take care of him  
Maybe I'll take care of you...  
(People)

**BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE  
**Melanie Safka  
Woodstock - August 15, 1969

* * *

I was lost in the deep and darkest night  
No direction,  
Not a single hope in sight  
When I saw a fire burning brightly through  
The storm that raged above  
In the shadows  
Of your warm and tender love

I was a stranger to the land and life around  
In constant danger,  
Being hurt by what I found  
And of hurting what I treasured most  
Foolish eagle never dove  
Till I fell upon your warm and tender love  
In the shadows  
Of your warm and tender love

Now I gaze in peace at the lonely sky  
That is raging high above  
Safe in the shadows  
Of your warm and tender, tender love  
In the shadows  
Of your warm and tender love

**WARM AND TENDER LOVE**  
Joan Baez  
Woodstock - August 15, 1969

* * *

We shall overcome  
We shall overcome  
We shall overcome someday  
Deep in my heart, I do believe  
We shall overcome someday

We'll walk hand in hand  
We'll walk hand in hand  
We'll walk hand in hand someday  
Deep in my heart, I do believe  
We'll walk hand in hand someday

We shall live in peace  
We shall live in peace  
We shall live in peace someday  
Here in my heart, I do believe  
We shall live in peace someday

We are not afraid  
We are not afraid  
We are not afraid today  
Deep in my heart, I do believe  
We shall overcome someday

We shall overcome  
We shall overcome  
We shall overcome someday  
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe  
We shall overcome someday

**WE SHALL OVERCOME**  
Joan Baez  
Woodstock - August 15, 1969


	10. 8 Ain't Gonna Make Rope No More Aug16'69

Severus had never felt this content; indeed, the feeling was beyond contentment and bordered on the euphoric.

"Uh-oh," he heard Angel utter.

Severus turned from staring at the light bulb, which had just become very bright and started swirling with a rainbow of colors..

He saw Angel staring at the liquid they were putting on pieces of blotter paper. It had been clear, but was now amber-colored.

Severus looked down and saw that somehow, his satchel with his Magickal First Aid Kit had opened, and some of the contents had spilled into the clear liquid, causing it to change color.

"_Ooops!_" Severus stated, looking up at Angel, and then laughing. Angel started laughing, too.

"_Ooops!_" Angel repeated. "I think we got some on us!"

They had been warned that under no circumstances were they to get any on themselves.

"Oh well," Severus conceded. "Ooops."

This was very funny. He could not stop laughing. Neither could Angel.

The light bulb was definitely doing strange things. It sparkled as if casting off hundreds of diamonds. The now-tainted liquid sparkled, too.

Severus retrieved his wand from his satchel. Perhaps he could fix the damage that had been done.

He waved the wand over the liquid, and muttered some words. The wand gave off neon-colored swirls and sparks; it had never done so before, but to Severus it now seemed like the most natural thing for it to do.

Rather than restoring the liquid to its original state, it turned darker and swirled. It looked for all the world to Severus like gelatinous tortoise-shell.

"_Ooops_!" Angel laughed.

"_Ooops_!" Severus agreed, hardly able to put his wand back in the satchel, he was laughing so hard.

What were they doing here?

"It's pretty, dude!" Angel observed, staring intently at the liquid, which now seemed imbued with energy, swirling and sparkling on its own.

While Angel was fascinated with the liquid, Severus was distracted by the light bulb. It was literally pulsating, like a heart. Neon-bright colors swirled from it. He realized that he could hear the electricity flowing, like blood through a vein.

Music was playing somewhere, and Severus became aware that it, too, was somehow connected to the energy of the light bulb.

The sound was a liquid, living thing; and because he too was a liquid, living thing, he and the sound became one. Severus discovered that sound was not just for the ears; it was tinged with colors of all shades and hues, and that it also had a taste and a smell.

He looked over at Angel who, he saw, was now haloed by thousands of sparkling diamonds, creating a crystalline glow about him. Severus wondered how Angel was able to do that.

Severus closed his eyes, but the colors and the sounds and the tastes and the smells were even more vivid. It felt like he was flying, but flying through a vast space that was his inner self.

Somehow, he knew that this was something that had been in existence forever, and it was strangely familiar. This was the real reality; everything else was illusion.

All his senses became one; there was no differentiating between taste or smell or sound or sight or touch.

Severus had no idea how much time had passed; when he opened his eyes, Angel seemed to be gone.

Severus then had the strangest sensation, and when he looked down, he saw that his torso was missing. For some reason he did not find this alarming.

As he watched, his feet, hands, legs, arms, and shoulders disappeared, and then his head until, like the Cheshire Cat he remembered from the story in school, only his mouth remained, and then that too disappeared.

He looked down to where the "he" that used to be he used to be, but instead somehow "saw" (although since he no longer had eyes, he was not sure how he was seeing) images of castle-like buildings, and of hallways, tunnels, and corridors. He also saw geometric structures in the shape of cubes, cones, and spheres that somehow he knew were places of higher learning where he longed to linger.

The walls were crystalline just as Angel had been, and while they gleamed, they were also somehow dark and mysterious at the same time. The walls seemed alive, quivering, trembling, and throbbing with energy.

Severus realized that he was in a living universe, which was an extension of his self, and that he in turn was an extension of the universe. All was one. Everything was connected.

He could no longer tell where his "self" ended, and the "walls" began.

He became aware of a beautiful, glowing light. There were people all around him, and when he looked, everyone turned from a Muggle into a wizard or a witch. Severus laughed.

They were all waves on a vast sea of consciousness. Severus became aware that he had the capability of transforming the world solely by his thoughts alone.

Somebody was talking, or perhaps singing, or perhaps chanting.

_And he sit down in the middle o' de' fire,  
And he say,  
"Shhhhhhhhhhiit, baby! I ain't gonna make rope no more!"_

Severus agreed.

"_Shhhhhhhhhhiiittt, baby!_" he yelled. "_**I **_ain't gonna make rope no more!"

But then it seemed as if all of the circuits in his brain had started to run wild, and were now out of control. It seemed as if he was caught up in whole universes of insanity.

He saw a huge turtle, as big as the universe itself. Severus thought that it must be the turtle whose shell he saw turned into liquid.

The turtle turned and looked at him, and Severus knew that it wanted him to climb on its back, and so he grabbed the turtle by the tail and hoisted himself onto its shell.

However, as soon as the turtle started to move, it turned into a snake. This startled Severus more than it frightened him; the snake was rather pretty, seemingly made of emeralds and blinding white gold.

Next, the snake turned into the stem of a giant flower, and when Severus looked up from the base of the stem that he was holding onto, he saw that the head of the snake had turned into a white lily, opening and closing like a heart beating.

The more Severus stared at the flower, the more he desired to be devoured by it, to be lost in the depths of its throat forever.

But the two yellow stamens within the flower suddenly glowed red; the stem of the flower again turned into the body of a snake, but this time it was pale, the color of dead flesh.

Severus looked up at the flower again, but it had turned into the head of a man, really no more than a skull with dead flesh stretched over it. The head had no nose, and the glowing stamens had become blood-red eyes.

"You are mine!" the man-snake hissed, coiling its body into a circle and swallowing it's own tail and thereby threatening to swallow Severus at the same time.

Severus yelled and jumped off the snake, which then disappeared.

He saw his mother. She looked sad and beautiful and terrifying, all at the same time.

"Mum?" he called, reaching out for her (although since he no longer had arms and hands, he again was not sure how he was doing it).

But his mother just looked at him sadly, murmured "Goodbye, Severus," and floated off into the distance, before disappearing.

On the other hand, perhaps she had shrunk down to nothingness. Severus was not sure.

The universe started turning inside out. Severus was desperately frightened.

Memories of the past that he thought he had forgotten or repressed he was now was forced to relive.

He was little more than an infant, still in diapers, grasping the bars of some prison that he realized was his crib, crying and crying. He was hungry or his diaper needed changing, it did not matter...he needed a parent's love and attention, and none was forthcoming.

The universe turned inside out again, and he was once again reborn into a childhood of demons and nightmares. This time it was his father yelling at his cowering mother, and then knocking her across the kitchen so that she fell between the refrigerator and the sink.

The next rebirth into hell, and he was walking home from school when he was six years old, and some Muggle kids were taunting him, and then pulled his pants and knickers down so that he tripped and fell, and they all stood around and laughed at him.

Severus lost track of how many times the universe flipped, and he was reborn into hell. The more he tried to fight it, the worse it became.

He became aware that these were worlds of his own construction, and that they were desperately lonely worlds. There was really no one there but Severus himself.

How lonely Hell must be, he thought, for the person who has said "No" to love.

As soon as he had that thought, it became much lighter. He was aware of others around him, but for some reason he was convinced that they did not want to be around him.

"Go!" he ordered them. "Go away! Leave me!"

"We won't leave you, Sev," a familiar voice answered. It was a loving voice. He was sure he knew that voice. A warm hand gripped his own.

It was warm and light again, although not the blinding light of before. He opened his eyes, and recognized that he was lying by the minibus. Someone had put the canopy back up, and the colors were pulsing. Annie's tie-dyed designs were like a window into another reality. Severus would have to tell her that.

"What the fuck _wrong_ w'you!?" someone yelled, and Severus felt someone hit him hard on the shoulder.

He turned to look, and recognized Azalea; she looked like a lioness, with her hair rippling like a halo around her head, bright reds and oranges and yellows shooting out all around her, it was like looking at a Sun Goddess.

"Be careful, man," someone else was saying, "like, you don't want to make him have a bad trip, man."

Severus looked to see who was speaking, and saw Free kneeling beside Azalea, a Moon Goddess of Serenity, with shades of indigo and violet emanating from her.

"We're here, Severus," the person holding his hands was saying. "Everything will be okay..."

It was Yesmina, shining like an angel with a halo of green and blue, her blonde wavy hair rippling and giving off it's own light, a Goddess of Earth and Sea.

Severus just smiled.

"He trippin'!" Azalea spat out in disgust, getting up and going to sit in the corner with her arms crossed.

"Can you sit up?" Yesmina asked, giving a slight tug on his hands.

Severus did not say anything, just continued to stare at Yesmina and her eyes, which were shooting sparks of violet and purple, but he did push himself up on his elbows to sit up. He felt Free's hands on his back to help him.

Once he sat up, he continued to stare at Yesmina and Free, with an occasional glance to Azalea. He was amazed that he had never before realized how beautiful they all were, especially with the sparkling colors each possessed.

They had daisy-like flowers in their hair, and Severus noticed some more flowers laying on one of the quilts, wilting in the summer heat.

Severus felt sad for the flowers. They were lonely. He remembered how lonely Hell was, and that it was that way because one turned one's back on love.

He let the flowers know that he loved them. And they responded by opening up. When he stopped thinking about them, they closed up again.

He again let the flowers know that he loved them. They again opened. Azalea was looking at a record album cover, but Free and Yesmina saw what happened to the flowers.

Severus now understood how Lily was able to so easily do what she did with flowers -- it was all about love. Lily was love.

And now Severus was, too.

He looked at the flowers that were in Yesmina's and Free's hair, and let those flowers know they were loved. They opened widely, and then closed.

Severus sent them love again, this time telling the flowers to listen to his heart, and know that while it was still beating, that he loved them.

The flowers responded by opening and closing in time to his heart.

Yesmina's eyes grew wide, and Free felt the flowers in her hair.

"Far out!" Free exclaimed.

Azalea looked up, wondering what the commotion was about. Severus sent love to the flowers in her hair, too.

"_What the...?_" she mumbled, reaching up to touch the flowers in her own hair, and then staring at Severus with a mixture of awe and fear.

"You just have to tell them that you love them," Severus told her. "The flowers. They need to know that they are loved."

"Like, that's really far out, man!" Free exclaimed, for once shaken out of her usual serenity. Yesmina just stared cryptically at Severus.

"People are like that," Severus observed. "Everyone needs love. Everyone will open up like those flowers, if they just know that they are loved. We all have that ability..."

"Heavy, man!" Free nodded, returning to her usual serenity.

The record player was out, and the music enveloped Severus and the girls. And the canopy. And the minibus. They were all one.

Severus noticed that the pictures on the record albums were moving, much like the magickal pictures at home. Nobody else seemed to notice the new phenomenon, though.

The Beatles were actually walking on Abbey Road, exiting off the right side of the album and returning on the left. However, unlike normal magickal pictures, these could talk.

John Lennon on one jaunt around on the album cover turned to Severus with his hand raised to his mouth to shield what he was saying from his other band members.

"I really _did_ bury Paul!" he stated in a stage whisper, but as Paul was just then returning on the left-hand side, he heard what was said. He glanced at John, and then turned to Severus.

"No! _I_ buried _John!_" he asserted.

Severus did not understand any of it.

"See you around, kid," John called out to him, as he again walked off the album cover. Ringo and George waved at Severus.

Aretha Franklin was talking to Azalea, who ignored her as she looked at the back of an album by The Temptations, who were dancing on the front of their own album.

Jim Morrison walked up to the front of his album cover.

"You rode the snake, Wizard King," he stated cryptically. "There's no closing the Doors of Perception, once they're opened..."

And with that, his eyes glowed bright red, and he flicked his tongue, which was forked like a snake's.

Severus became frightened and confused.

"Where's Angel!?" he demanded, suddenly realizing his friend was nowhere in sight.

"Steve be out lookin' for him," Azalea stated, putting down the record album and staring at Severus. "He be lookin' for hours, now!"

_Hours?_ Severus realized for the first time that not only was the sun out, but it was also in the western sky.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Just past three in the afternoon," Yesmina told him softly.

_Three in the afternoon!?_ Where had the time gone? When this had all started, it was an hour or so before dawn. Almost eleven hours had elapsed, but to Severus it only seemed an hour or two.

Where had he been for all that time? Had he actually traveled to all of those places, met all of the people and creatures he had seen?

He became confused and disoriented. The multi-colors of the canopy were no longer beautiful, but distracting.

"Gotta find Angel," Severus mumbled, stumbling out of the canopy opening.

Suddenly he was alone, and the sun was no longer visible in the now grey sky. No one was around. All the concertgoers were gone. He tried to remember who he was, but could not.

A line of crystalline spiders crawled toward and then past him. More spiders came from every direction. He had to keep lifting his feet to avoid stepping on them.

It was getting dark, shadows were growing longer. The spiders glowed with an inner light of swirling neon. Suddenly, they all stopped and turned to him, telling him how much they all liked his smock.

The paintings on the school buses pulsated and shimmered, and the flowers painted on them opened and closed.

One bus had a painting of Jesus' head on it. Jesus looked at him, and He said just one word.

Severus was amazed at its profundity.

o  
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo  
o

It was back around the turn of the centuries  
Back around nineteen hundred & thirteen  
There was a Negro pugilist  
His name was Jack Johnson

Now old Jack Johnson  
He was the toughest man in the whole wide world  
He used t'walk around whoppin' people up side the head  
And makin' all sorts of money

Like I say ol' Jack Johnson he was a pugilist  
He was a pugilist by preference and by profession  
And one day ol' Jack came walkin' on down by the pier side  
He's just walkin' on down  
His manager come walkin' on down by the pier side

He says, "Uh, hi, Jack..."  
He says, "Hi, manager..."  
He says, "Whatcha doin'?"  
He says, "I'm just walkin' on down by the pier side."

He says, "What's up?"  
He says, "I gotta gig for ya"  
He says, "Ya gotta gig for me?"  
He says, "That's right"

He says, "Where abouts?"  
He says, "Over in England"  
He says, "Hmm... what'm I gonna do over there?"  
He says, "Well you goin' up and whop this guy up side the head and make all sorts of money."

Ol' Jack says, "That's groovy baby! That's really groovy, you give me a ticket on the next flight out!"  
He said, "Ticket on the next flight out?!? This is nineteen hundred and thirteen!  
Why the Wright brothers haven't even started foolin' around with Kitty Hawk yet!"  
He said, "Uhh…who she?"It was midnight on the sea  
The band was playing "Nearer My God To Thee"  
Fare thee well Titanic, fare thee well

Ol' Jack says, "Well how'm I gonna get there baby?"  
And he says, "Ohhh, I'm gonna show ya,"  
And he whips open a newspaper and shows him a picture of the USS Titanic.

Folks, she's the world's biggest ship  
She's made outta good wood and good iron  
They said she'd never go down

He says, "You mean I'm goin' over on the boat?"  
And he says, "That's right, baby, you're goin' on the boat!"  
And he says, "Well, let's go get some tickets,"  
So they head on down to the ticket taker's place

He walks on up to the ticket taker.  
He walks on in and he says, "Hey man, I wanna buy me some tickets!"  
He said, "Gotta red ticket, green ticket, yellow ticket, blue ticket, what kinda ticket you want?"  
He says, "I wanna red one."  
He gave him some loot and he laid it on him.

So here's ol' Jack, he's got his ticket  
Now he takes everything he owns  
He wraps it on up in a diaper and  
He hangs it on a stick over his back  
And goes headin' on down by the pier side

He gettin' on down by the pier side  
His manager's down there by the pier side  
And here she is folks - the USS Titanic!  
She's lined up beside two hundred and fifty parkin' meters  
And the Captain's gettin' done ready to split  
'cause he run outta dimes.

Now around this time there was an I-talian senator  
And the state house and all I-talian senators  
Done got brothers own construction companies  
And this one had a brother  
He owned a construction company  
And the Titanic, she was made outta good I-talian wood, good I-talian iron  
They said she'd never go down.

So there's ol' Jack standin' on the bottom  
Got everything he owns wrapped on up in that diaper  
Hangin' on a stick over his back  
He shakes hands with his manager  
Goes walkin' on up the gangplank  
The Captain standin' on the top

He get up onto the top and  
The Captain he look at the ticket  
He look at the ticket  
He look at Jack  
He look at the ticket  
He look at Jack  
He look at the ticket  
He look at Jack  
He look at the ticket  
He look at Jack  
Lookatta  
He says, "Sorry baby, wrong color."  
He says, "Me or the ticket?"  
And he says, "You."

_**Chorus:**__  
**It was midnight on the sea  
The band was playin' "Nearer My God To Thee"  
Fare thee well Titanic, fare thee well  
Now they wouldn't let Jack Johnson on board  
They said this ship don't haul no coal  
Fare thee well Titanic, fare thee well ** _

So Jack says. "It's all right baby, it's all right.  
I'm gonna sit right here on the pier and watch you go right on down!"

So the Titanic she sails on out into the North sea  
She's out there floatin' around  
In and out between the icebergs  
And ol' Jack's standin' on the pier

I'm gonna tell ya 'bout the people on the Titanic now.

First of all there's a whole bunch of Jewish people from Miami.  
They're jumpin' up and down They're laughin'.  
They're drinkin' booze. They're tradin' wives and Cadillacs and diamonds,  
And havin' all sorts of good clean party fun.

Then there was the people that run the boat.  
Now the people that run the boat, they know all about runnin' boats.  
They know all about hoistin' up landlubbers  
And battenin' down hatches,  
And doin' all sorts of other good things  
Like all good sailors do, when they're far away at sea.

Then there was the Captain.  
Now the Captain, he knows how to walk like a captain,  
Write like a captain, walk like a captain,  
Talk like a captain, smell like a captain, eat like a captain,  
Do all sorts of captain things.

Then there was the first mate.

Now I gotta tell ya bout the First Mate.  
Now the First Mate,  
He don't know nothin' about Jewish parties.  
He don't know nothing about hoistin' up landlubbers.  
He don't know nothin' about captains.

He, uh, he wants to go on over to England  
He wants to play his guitar..  
He wanna run around and chase women,  
And have all sorts of good...times.

Anyways, this fella, his sideburns, they're just a little too long.  
He give it away, see.  
He, he been down in Mexico, he been down in Mexico.  
He been workin' in this rope factory down in Mexico now.

Down in Mexico  
They make rope outta this funny little hemp plant  
That grows wild in the ground.

Some of you people grow it in flower pots under your bed…ehh!

Anyways, he's down there and he's,  
He's makin' rope outta this funny mari-juana plant..

One day the rope factory, she catch fire,  
And he runs back on in to save his lunch -  
He's got two sardine sandwiches -  
Runnin' back on in to save his lunch.

He gets inside,  
And there's all this funny smoke floatin' around up inside  
And he gets some of this funny smoke up inside his head  
And he sit down in the middle o' de' fire,  
And he say,

_**"Shhhhhhhhhhiit, baby! I ain't gonna make rope no more!"  
**__  
So he takes everything he owns  
He wraps it up on into a diaper and a knapsack, too  
And he, he headin' on to the Titanic _

He gets to the Titanic  
He standin' on the bottom walkin' on up the gangplank  
And the Captain's standin' on the top  
And the Captain says, "What you got boy?"

He says, "I'm comin' on"

He says, "_**WHAT YOU GOT!**__" _

He says, "Well, I got me two changes of BVD's.  
I got me my guitar. I got me my address book, a pair of socks,  
Four Masked Marvel comic books, a tennis racquet  
And four hundred and ninety-seven and a half feet o' rope."

He says, "Four hundred and ninety seven and a half feet o' rope!  
Whaddya got that for?"

He says, "Oh, I just carry it."

So he says, "It's all right. Go on board, go on board," and he did.

_**(Chorus)**_

That brings us up to what's happenin' now -  
The Titanic, she's floatin' around in and out between the icebergs  
The Jewish people, they be partyin'  
They tradin' wives and Cadillacs and diamonds  
They drinkin' booze and havin' all sorts of party fun

Everybody else is hoistin' up landlubbers and battenin' down hatches  
The First Mate, he's hangin' over the rail  
He's havin' himself a little smoke  
He's diggin' the icebergs  
Havin' himself a little smoke and  
It's the Captain's time to do his thing

The Captain comes on out  
(remember I told you about the captain -  
He knows how to walk like captain,  
Write like captain,  
Talk like,  
All sorts of captain things)

He comes on out and he's standin' now  
His thing right now is that  
He's gotta go out and test the wind  
So he casts his nose up into the north wind  
And he goes...  
sniff sniff sniff

He walks on over to the First Mate  
He says, "Hey First Mate, what's that you smokin'?"  
He says, "That ain't nothin' but a little ol' cigarette, captain!"  
And he says, "I don't believe it. Gimme a puff!"  
And he says, "Alright."

So the captain takes himself a little puff.  
Nothin' happened right away.  
He says, "It's alright, it's alright.  
It's just a cigarette. I'm goin' for a walk."  
And that's what he did, folks.

He went for a walk.

He went, he went out walkin' around the boat,  
He went walkin' toward the wheelhouse, he,  
He walked around.

He walked around the wheelhouse once.  
He walked around the wheelhouse twice.  
On the third time around the wheelhouse,  
The First Mate he looked on over at the Captain and  
And he say, "You wanna 'nother toke, Captain?"

And the Captain, he say, "_**RIGHT!!!!!!!!**__" _

So this time  
He's gonna tell the captain a little bit about this smoke that he's smokin'.

He says, "Now the idea, Captain,  
The idea is to get this smoke way down deep inside your tummy  
And hold it there just as long as you can,  
It'll make you head feel good all inside."

So the Captain says, "Alright."  
He takes himself three big tokes off that funny little brown weed and  
He says, "I am commencing to hold it in!"

He walked around the wheelhouse.  
He went downstairs, he laid down.  
He got up, he ran in the other room.  
He sent a radiogram.

He came on back in.  
He took a shower.  
He come out.  
He shaved.

He laid down.  
He got up again.  
He turned on the television.  
He turned off the radio.

He played a game of cribbage.  
He read his Masked Marvel comic book.  
He walked through the kitchen,  
Made a cup of tea, made a cup of coffee,  
Sat down, ate a piece of pie,

Went upstairs,  
Played another game of cribbage,  
Went back in,  
Finished his other Masked Marvel comic book,  
Laid down.

He had the television,  
The radio,  
The egg beater,  
The air conditioner,  
And everything's all goin' at once.

He walks up on deck,  
And this is fifty two minutes later,  
And this cat ain't breathed yet!

So the First Mate see him standin' up there on the rail  
He's all puffed up like a balloon!  
He says, "Ya gotta let it out, Captain!

So the Captain, he let it all out at once.  
Fallin' right down on the wheelhouse floor.  
He's out cold.

O-h-h-h, this just brings us up to what's happenin' again folks!  
The Titanic, she's sailin' around in between the icebergs  
Everybody else is havin' parties  
The Jewish people, they jumpin' up and down  
They tradin' wives and Cadillacs and diamonds and drinkin' booze

Everybody else is hoistin' up landlubbers,  
Battenin' down hatches and doin' sail things  
The First Mate's hangin' over there on the rail  
Havin' himself a little smoke and diggin' icebergs

And the Captain's out cold on the wheelhouse floor

_**(Chorus)**_

All of a sudden, the Captain's eyes popped _**wide**__ open.  
He stood right up straight, grabs a hold o' de wheel.  
Looks on out at the bow o' dat boat, and he say,  
"__**I'M GONNA MOVE YOU, BABY!**__" _

And he did, right on into an iceberg, and she went right on down.

_**(Chorus)**_

That's the true story of the Titanic, folks.  
She went right to the bottom.

She took with her all the Jewish people,  
All the First Mates.  
She took with him the Captain.  
She took with him the landlubbers.

She took with him the Masked Marvel comic books,  
The tennis racquet,  
And four hundred and ninety-seven and a half feet o' rope.

Meanwhile back on the stateside  
Ol' Jack Johnson, why he's standin' up on the pier  
He's fishin' away  
He's got himself a little stick and a line and  
He gets a tug

He pulls it on up and  
It's a big, wet, blue soggy mess and  
On the inside, on the lining  
Written in big gold letters  
It says, "USS Titanic"

And stuck right above it was a wet roach, man!

That boy was so happy  
He started doin' the Eagle Rock  
Up and down that pier like it's goin' outta style  
He go, he gonna do the Eagle Rock now  
Everybody in for the Eagle Rock  
Oh rock!

_**(Chorus)**_

Fare thee well Titanic, goin' down!"

**THE LEGEND OF THE USS TITANIC  
Jamie Brockett**


	11. Chap 9 Heaven & Hell Aug16Aug17'69

"You okay, dude?" someone asked.

Severus turned from Jesus, who had just winked at him, to see all his friends, old and new, around him -- Angel, Steve, Azalea, Free, Yesmina, DeWard and Dawn.

"Yeah," Severus answered, contemplating the glow they all had. "I am now..."

It was late in the day, the sun was much lower in the sky, and clouds were making it darker. As Severus looked at a cloud, a hole would open up in it, and he could see the sky beyond. When he looked away, the hole would close up, but another one would open where he was now looking.

"He still high!" Azalea observed.

"Probably," Free answered calmly. "It can, like, take almost a day to completely come down from a trip, man."

Severus watched the sparkles of light that swirled around everyone, as they made their way through the crowd to the area by the stage where they had sat the night before. Music had already started.

Periodically, what seemed to be flashes of ball lightening would leap out from somewhere. Severus thought that perhaps they were someone's patronus.

As they made their way through the same opening in the fence, and climbed up on the packing crates, Severus wondered if he was dreaming...it all seemed unreal.

Everything and everybody had a glow, a halo of sparkling neon in Day-Glo colors.

Severus couldn't stop staring at Azalea's fingernails...he couldn't believe how beautifully pink they were.

He became aware of Yesmina trying to give him a bottle of some sort of liquid; it was a greenish-brown, but Severus was amazed at the lightning storm occurring within the contents of the bottle.

He stared at the shooting lights for some time, before he understood that Yesmina wanted him to take the bottle. He held it in both hands and continued to gaze at the light show occurring within the bottle. Was he supposed to drink it?

"It's the medicine you made for me, Sev," Yesmina was explaining. "Remember? For sunburn? In case my sunblock didn't work?"

Severus vaguely remembered making something for Yesmina that would cure burns, but he didn't remember that it had these shooting lights in it.

Far out, he thought.

"Yeah, you'll be needin' that shit by tomorrow!" Azalea exclaimed, not turning her gaze from the stage. "'specially on yo' pee-pee!"

Severus continued to gaze at the bottle, trying to process what Azalea was saying.

"For your sunburn, Sev!" Yesmina was stating emphatically, leaning down and staring directly into his face to drive the point home.

"My sunburn..." Severus mused, grinning at the bottle.

"We found you by the lake," Yesmina continued. "Earlier today. When we went looking for you. We found you by following your trail of clothes by the lake. You were laying naked on the edge of the lake..."

"By the lake..." Severus grinned.

"You, like, had to be out there for hours, man," Free added. "You're, like, red all over, man! If that stuff helps sunburn, man, then you better use it right away, man, else it'll be a real bummer for you tomorrow, man..."

"Bummer..." Severus grinned.

"He still trippin'!" Azalea muttered.

"So's our friend Angel, here," Steve laughed, watching Angel who was now staring at the bottle Severus was holding.

"They must have been to the same party," Steve continued, "'cause Angel here didn't have any clothes on when I found him, either! Don't know how long _he_ was out in the sun, he was just sitting cross-legged by the lake, staring at something in the grass...so he might have to use some of that stuff, too!"

"Serve them both right!" Azalea muttered.

"Far out!" Severus exclaimed, regarding nothing in particular.

He shook the bottle, and it became even prettier. The colors swirled and sparkled and blended, and reformed into new miniature lightning bolts.

He got up and started to dance with the bottle. He was one with the bottle. He was inside the bottle, surrounded by neon-colored lightning.

"_Sev! Sev!_" someone was calling. Was it his mother? Or maybe Lily?

Instinctively at the thought of Lily, his hand went up to his chest to retrieve her flower, but there was no flower. There was no vest pocket. There was no vest.

Severus stood there, contemplating his right hand lying over his tie-dyed smock on his left breast. His vest was gone, along with Lily's flower.

And his bones were glowing a bright Day-Glo orange through his flesh. He'd never noticed that before.

"_Severus!_" the voice continued to call, and Yesmina's head surrounded by the soft green-blue halo came into view.

"Severus!" she was saying. "You _really_ need to use that right away! "

Severus looked at the bottle, the contents of which now began to glow on their own, in addition to the sparks of light that swirled within it.

He opened the bottle and brought it to his lips.

"_NO!"_ Yesmina screamed. Her glowing white hands surrounded by green-blue lights grabbed his hands and pulled them away from his lips, taking the bottle away at the same time and closing it.

"You don't _drink_ it, Sev!" she pleaded. "Don't you remember? You rub it on your skin!"

Oh, so that's how the pretty magick stuff worked, Severus thought.

He grabbed the bottle back with one hand and tore off his smock with the other, then proceeded to rub the pretty liquid on his arms and chest.

"Here, you need some on your back, too," Yesmina stated, taking the bottle and rubbing some of the medicine on Severus' back. Her hands were deliciously cool, with a slight electric tingle Severus had never noticed before.

Yesmina then proceeded to massage some of the liquid on Severus' face, neck, and ears.

"That's not where he need it most!" Azalea harrumphed.

Yesmina blushed, but Severus saw that instead of her usual bright pink, she was blushing in shades of neon green and blue.

"Didn't Sev say yesterday that there's restrooms back there somewhere?" Steve asked. "Let's bring him and Angel back there, I can help them, uh, do what's necessary!"

At that moment there was a roll of thunder.

Azalea looked as if she was very displeased with Mother Nature..

"It's fuckin' goin' t'rain _again_!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms and glaring at the sky.

"Why don't we, like, _all_ go back there, man?" Free suggested. "We can, like, catch the show from backstage, man..."

Azalea turned and stared at her, but it was obvious that Azalea thought it was an idea worth pursuing. She jumped off the crate.

"Okay, let's go!" she announced, turning and leading the way.

Steve and Free helped Dawn and DeWard get down, and then they helped guide Severus and Angel back to the area Severus had gone the night before.

Many flying machines were coming and going, Severus noticed. At least, he thought they were flying machines. Sometimes they were large doves from which people emerged when the doves landed.

Angel laughed. He must have noticed it, too.

"What are you kids doing back here!?" a voice boomed. "Oh, it's _you_ again!"

Severus looked and saw Big Ed; tonight Big Ed's heart tattoo was beating, and the "Mom" banner was glowing like a neon sign. The mermaid on Big Ed's other arm kept flicking her tail and winking at Severus.

"Uh, yeah!" Severus answered. "I still need to take a leak. We all do."

Severus waved his arm in the general vicinity of his friends.

Big Ed looked closely at Severus, and then Angel, and then at the rest, before chuckling.

"Okay, you know where it is...and if you want to stick around and run errands like you did last night, I'd appreciate it. It really helped, and tonight's even crazier!" he added, before trotting off to some unknown destination.

Azalea was staring at Severus.

"Told you so!" he grinned, walking past her and through the opening he'd used the night before.

But he had to stop to get his bearings once he was inside; things seemed different for some reason. Too many hallways, too many people.

He turned and went down the one he thought came out be the Port-a-Potties, but he ended up outside by the spigot.

"This isn't it," he giggled, picking up the hose and spraying water from it. As it had started to rain it didn't seem to matter, at least not to Severus, but the girls and DeWard all quickly stepped back in to avoid being hit by the spray.

Severus shrugged and threw down the hose, and came back in, walking past the girls and stopping in a doorway that he remembered. Everyone else crowded around and looked in.

"This is the kitchen," Severus announced unnecessarily.

"Cool!" Angel exclaimed.

"Yeah, it be a kitchen!" Azalea retorted. "But it _ain't_ no bathroom, goddammit!"

"You looking for the bathrooms?" someone passing by asked. Without waiting for an answer he stopped and pointed back the way he had come.

"Just do down here and take your first right, go to the end, you can't miss 'em!"

"Thank you!" Azalea answered sweetly, flashing a broad smile at the young man, who smiled back before continuing on his way.

"It's so nice to know _some_ can be _gentlemen_ instead o' assholes!" Azalea announced, hands on her hips, before turning and leading the way in the direction the young man had indicated.

When they all finally got to the Port-A-Potties, the rain had started to fall in earnest, which did not help Azalea's mood.

"_You_ do what you gotta do with _them_!" she told Steve, making a dismissive gesture towards Severus and Angel. "We do what _we_ gotta do, and wait for you inside!"

With that she took the nearest available cubicle and slammed the door shut, muttering something incomprehensible.

Instead of taking Severus and Angel inside one of the Port-A-Potties, Steve took them back inside out of the rain, and found an unused room where he made the two younger boys strip and then use the burn lotion that Severus had made wherever it was necessary.

This was a little more difficult than it normally would have been, as both Severus and Angel had to be stopped from trying occasionally trying to drink the liquid, or just stopping to stare into the bottle.

By the time they had finished, gotten dressed, and left the room, they could only find Dawn and DeWard sitting in the kitchen.

"Where's everyone else?" Steve asked them, opening the refrigerator to see what was inside it.

"People gave them stuff to do!" DeWard complained, obviously annoyed at being left alone with nothing to do.

Steve retrieved some soft drinks from the refrigerator and put them on the table his sister and DeWard were sitting at. They each quickly grabbed a can, pulled off their pop tops, and eagerly gulped the contents.

"Want some?" Steve asked, holding a can out to Severus and Angel. Angel just stood staring at Steve, and then the can. Severus wandered out into the hallway. He thought that he heard someone crying.

_You told me goodbye  
How was I to know  
You didn't mean goodbye  
You meant please don't let me go _

Was having a high time  
Living the good life  
Well I know

Severus emerged out into the rain; Azalea was by the spigot, spraying herself, crying hysterically.

_The wheels are muddy  
Got a ton of hay  
Now listen here baby  
'Cause I mean what I say _

I'm having a high time  
Living the good life  
Well I know 

Severus went over to Azalea. She was soaking wet, but she continued to spray herself and rub at her arms and her clothes. Her halo of red, orange, and yellow was as bedraggled as her hair.

"Azalea, what's wrong?" Severus quietly asked, but Azalea didn't hear him over the noise of the concert and the storm. She continued to cry and spray and rub.

"Azalea!" Severus yelled. "What's wrong!?"

She looked up at him, still crying, the hose dangling in her hand.

"It's so _dirty_!" she wailed. "All this _mud_!"

Severus took a closer look. It _was_ muddy. And apparently Azalea had fallen in some.

"Here, let me help," he offered, taking the hose and spraying Azalea on her back, where she couldn't reach. She continued to cry.

_I was losing time,  
I had nothing to do  
No one to fight,  
I came to you_

"Don't cry, Azalea," Severus told her, finishing cleaning the mud off the back of her tee shirt and jeans. "It's only a little mud, it washes off..."

But rather than making Azalea feel better, she only cried harder.

Severus didn't know what to say or do to comfort her. He put his arm around her, but since he was almost a foot shorter than Azalea, he could only comfortably reach around her waist.

But Azalea didn't seem to mind. She continued to cry, but put her arm around Severus' shoulder, and let him guide her back inside.

_Tomorrow comes trouble  
Tomorrow comes pain  
Now don't think too hard, baby  
'Cause you know what I'm saying _

I could show you a high time  
Living the good life  
Don't be that way 

Once back inside, Azalea actually made a sardonic laugh.

"My hair be all ruined, now!" she mumbled.

"You're beautiful, Azalea," Severus told her, sincerely meaning it. "You don't see what I see...you're all, like, glowing. You're all warm, like fire. You're orange and red and yellow..."

Azalea looked at him sarcastically, then laughed sardonically again.

"Just my fuckin' luck!" she muttered, as she started to walk away. "Only one think I'm beautiful be a little boy trippin' on acid!"

Severus grabbed her arm to stop her.

"You _are_ beautiful, Azalea!" he exclaimed. "Maybe it took what you call acid for me to see just how beautiful you really are! Everyone's beautiful, Azalea! Maybe everyone needs to take that stuff to be able to realize just how beautiful everyone is, even themselves!"

He was almost out of breath. Azalea was staring at him.

_Nothing's for certain  
It could always go wrong  
Come in when it's raining  
Go on out when it's gone _

We could have us a high time  
Living the good life  
Well I know 

Azalea smiled cryptically, and then leaned over and kissed Severus. On the lips. Hard.. Severus did not know what to do, but he also did not want her to stop.

But she did, pulling away, standing up and looking down at him.

"You hold onto that thought, English Boy," she said softly. "Maybe we talk about it in a few years, when you're a little bigger..."

She winked at him and then turned and went up the hall into the kitchen. Severus could hear her demanding, "Any fuckin' _towels_ around this place?"

"_Pssst!_" a hoarse whisper called out behind Severus. "Hey you! Kid!" He turned to look at who was calling him.

A woman with long, reddish-brown hair was leaning against a pole.

She wore glasses with huge orange round lenses, dozens of beaded necklaces cascading from her neck, and dozens of bracelets adorning her right wrist. The left wrist had a beaded leather cuff on it, and in her hand was an empty whisky bottle.

"Yeah, you!" she whispered to Severus, gesturing for him to come over.

As he drew nearer, he could tell that she smelled like his father when he got drunk on more than just beer. But she was surrounded by a rainbow of flashing lights that fascinated Severus.

"Wha's yer name?" the woman asked him.

"Severus," he answered.

"_'Sev'ress'_", she repeated, her speech slightly slurred. She put her left arm around Severus and pulled him to her side, the whiskey bottle hitting him in his chest.

"Nice smock, man!" she stated, staring down at him.

"Thank you," Severus answered, wondering what this woman wanted.

"How many are there, man?" she asked, bending down to whisper in Severus' ear, moving her right arm in a broad arc.

Severus assumed she wanted to know how many people were outside.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "Quite a few. Someone said half a million, someone else said it could be a million..."

The woman made an indeterminate sound, standing up so fast that she lost her balance and stumbled. She only was saved from falling by grabbing onto Severus' shoulder.

She brought the bottle to her lips, only to discover that it was empty.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, and then looked at Severus as if she was seeing him for the first time.

"Hey, kid!" she exclaimed. "Wha's yer name?"

"Severus," he repeated.

"Oh, yeah!" she answered, swaying slightly. She shoved the empty bottle at him.

"Here, man!" she demanded. "You go find a guy named Mike, tell him Janis needs more!"

Severus took the bottle, but didn't move.

"Wha's wrong?" the woman named Janis demanded.

"Where do I find this Mike?"

Janis again put her arm around Severus, and made a gesture in the general direction of a passageway off of the one they were in, and then to his surprise kissed him. On his lips. Hard.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, trying to stand up but swaying and catching herself on the pole. "You come see us all when you get bigger!"

She laughed a strange sort of laugh, and staggered in the direction of the kitchenette.

Severus looked down at the bottle, shrugged, and then went down the hall and turned into the passageway that Janis had indicated.

There were a lot of people here, coming and going and just sitting around in side areas. He went to the first group and asked if anyone was named Mike, but there wasn't.

The second time, someone asked him why he was asking, and he explained how someone named Janis asked him to find Mike. This information seemed meaningful to the other person, who directed Severus further down the hall.

He found a group of men gathered together in a circle, two playing acoustic guitars and another playing a set of bongos.

"Is anyone here named Mike?" Severus asked. One of the men looked up.

"I'm Mike, why do you ask?"

Severus held up the empty whisky bottle.

"Some lady named Janis said to tell you she needs more," Severus explained. All of the men made faces of disgust.

"She goin' to be in any shape to perform?" one of them asked Mike, who had gotten up without a word and grabbed an unopened bottle of whiskey from a group of bottles on the ground off to the side.

"Where is she?" Mike asked Severus, coming over to him with the bottle.

"I think she's in the kitchen," Severus answered, adding when he saw Mike's puzzled look, "I'll show you."

Mike followed Severus down the hall and to the left. Mike's pace quickened and he passed Severus when the woman's raucous laugh could clearly be heard.

Yesmina and Free had returned from whatever errands they had been given. Yesmina, Steve, Dawn and DeWard were clearly in awe of Janis, and even Azalea seemed impressed, if wary. Free just gazed serenely at the woman, intent on whatever she had to say.

Angel, however, seemed to be watching the woman's chest, and when Severus looked, he could see why. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before, but Janis was wearing the universe.

Her blouse held whole star systems and swirling galaxies, and if one looked long enough one could fall into the vast icy cold depths. On her legs were blazing supernovas and luminous celestial clouds.

"Shit, is this all!?" she demanded when Mike handed her the bottle of whiskey. "I need a fix bad, man!"

"No you don't, Janis!" Mike answered, as Janis ripped off the paper seal and opened the bottle. "You already shot up today, you're going to be on in a little while..."

Janis almost gagged on the whiskey she was swallowing.

"Do you _know_ how many people are out there, man!?" she demanded, and without waiting for an answer shouted, "A _million_, goddammit! A _million_ motherfuckin' _people_, man!"

She furiously gulped down a couple of mouthfuls of whiskey.

"How can I perform for that many people, man!?" she demanded. "How can I connect with that many?"

To keep from crying, she drank some more whiskey.

Mike opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could say anything, Free interrupted him.

"You'll be fine, man" Free told Janis. "It, like, doesn't matter how many people there are, man! Each one is just one, man!"

Janis gazed at Free over the top of the whiskey bottle, but didn't look like she was quite convinced.

"It'll be fine," Severus offered, coming over and standing in front of Janis. "You're beautiful! You have a rainbow around you, and the whole universe within you. There isn't anything you can't do!"

Janis looked at Severus cryptically, and then laughed raucously. She was still laughing as Mike led her out of the kitchenette and down the hall.

Angel was also laughing, and when Severus looked at him, he also started to laugh.

_I put a spell on you  
Because you're mine_

"What's so funny?" Azalea demanded.

Severus turned to look at her. The rain had caused her hair to curl and surround her head like a lion's mane. There were flecks of flame shooting out from the ends of her hair, which seemed to be blowing in some solar wind. Her eyes glowed like burning amber.

_You better stop  
The things that you're doin'  
I said watch out!  
I ain't lyin', yeah! _

I ain't gonna take none of your  
Foolin' around 

"You both still high!" she exclaimed in disgust.

"Why are we just hanging around here doing nothing?" Dawn complained.

"Yeah," DeWard added, raising his head from his folded arms on the table.

Azalea came over and put her arm around Severus. The glow surrounding her enveloped him, and it felt like he was standing in front of an oven.

"How d'you get on stage yesterday?" she asked.

"Wuh?" Severus asked. He couldn't stop looking at Azalea's hair.

"Come on," she instructed, guiding him to the door. "Show us how to get to the back of the stage, so's we can see what's happening and not get wet!"

_I put a spell on you  
Because you're mine_

By the time Severus understood what Azalea was asking, and they had made their way to the back of the stage, the band that had been currently playing had finished their set.

They proceeded to sit on cases or the stage floor itself, and then Azalea reached under Angel's shirt and retrieved the foil packet he carried there.

She removed one of the brown cigarettes they had made the other night, putting the foil packet into her bag and retrieving a lighter.

She lit up and took a drag, and then passed it to Severus, who was still fascinated with Azalea's hair. How could the flames keep going, he wondered, when it was raining?

By the time everyone had taken a toke, Free pointed out that the woman named Janis was singing at the front of the stage.

_You know I'm standin' about, yes I am  
Want to give you all my love, oh, honey  
Won't you come on and open up  
I said, open up your heart  
Please, let me try _

You'd better to be good  
Don't ya understand?  
Raise your hand  
I said, raise your hand 

"Raise your hand, honey," Azalea started singing along, and surprisingly Steve joined in, too.

_You'd better be good  
Don't ya understand  
Raise your hand  
I said, raise your hand_

"Raise your hand," Azalea and Steve sang, now joined by Free, Yesmina, and Dawn. Azalea's glowing eyes pierced Severus'.

"Raise your hand, Sev!" she told him, as she and the others raised theirs...

Severus raised his hand, and Azalea clutched it. Its warmth enveloped him, and there was a feeling of electricity radiating from her hand down his arm.

_I said every day when I go out  
I said I wanna move  
Every day when I go out  
I tell ya I wanna groove_

Steve stood up, still singing, and started to dance. Angel and Yesmina joined him.

_I said move, yeah  
Said move now  
Move, yeah  
Whoa!_

Azalea continued to sing and to stare into Severus' eyes, swinging his raised hand in hers.

_If you know where you belong  
I'll tell you  
Here and now  
Said here and now  
Said here now, now, now, now,  
Now, now, now!_

Azalea took Severus' other hand, and pulled him up as she stood to start dancing.

_Raise your hand  
Raise your hand  
Raise your hand _

Hey, hey, hey, get it up now  
Hey, hey, get it up now 

Azalea and Steve both stopped dancing, looked at each other, and started laughing.

"What the fuck she singin' about?" Azalea laughed. Steve couldn't stop laughing.

"Putting our hands up," Severus offered, which made Azalea and Steve laugh harder.

_Hey, hey, get it up now  
Hey, hey, get it up_

"Yeah, you get it up now, Sev!" Azalea laughed, pulling both his hands up in hers. Severus didn't understand what was so funny, but Azalea's laughter sounded like the most beautiful songbird he'd ever heard.

When Janis stopped singing, Azalea gave Severus a strong hug, and sat down again, taking the toke that Free offered her.

_Time keeps moving on  
Friends they turn away, Lordy Lord  
Well, I keep moving on  
But I never found out why _

I keep pushing so hard a dream  
I keep trying to make it right  
Through another lonely day  
Whoa!

Don't discover it lasts  
Honey, time keeps a-moving on, hey  
Yeah, yeah, yeah 

By the time they were on their third marijuana cigarette, they all had their arms around each other's shoulders, heads together, swaying back and forth to the music. Azalea sang into Severus' ear.

_Hey, I ain't never gonna love you  
Any better baby  
'Cause I'm never gonna love you right  
So you better take it now  
I said right, yes, now, yeah _

But it don't make no difference baby, no, no  
'Cause I know that I could always try  
There's a fire inside of  
Everyone of us, huh-uh

I'm gonna need it now  
I'm gonna use it yeah  
I'm gonna hold it 'til the day I die 

Severus tried to sing along, but not knowing the lyrics, he actually only sang every third or so word and hummed the rest, laying his head on Azalea's shoulder.

_Honey, I hate, I hate to be the one  
I said every time you're gonna  
Wanna love somebody  
Everytime you're gonna  
Wanna need somebody  
You're gonna wanna turn around  
I'm gonna be there _

No, no, no, no, no, no, no  
No, no, no, no, no, no, no  
When you're gonna put out your hand  
All you're want is some kind of lovin' man

He ain't gonna be there  
I said, not here  
No, no, no, no, no, no, no  
No, no, no, no, no, no, no  
No, no, no, no, no, no, no,  
No, no, no, no, no 

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," Azalea sang along, leaning over and putting her other arm around Severus.

_Honey when I wanna reach out my hand  
I said darling all I ever wanted  
Was for you to understand me now  
Whoa!_

"For you to understand me now," Azalea and Severus sang to each other.

Janis stopped singing, and started speaking to the audience.

"_This is a song that demands audience participation!_" she began. "_All you have to do is clap your hands, man! I know you can cope with it no matter how stoned you are, man!_"

Janis chuckled, and so did her audience at the back of the stage. Some in the greater audience out front started to clap.

"_We are all gonna cope with it,_" Janis continued, "_and we're all pretty stoned, too, man!_"

She took a swallow of whiskey from the bottle she carried, and laughed as more people began clapping.

"_Like that!_" she exclaimed. "_I can't hardly hear you, man!_"

Now it sounded like everyone out front was clapping, so the small audience at the back of the stage joined in. Janis seemed to take notice of them for the first time, laughed, and then turned back to the microphone.

"_Yeah!_" she exclaimed, laughing, before starting her next song.

_Didn't I make you feel  
Like you were the only man, well yeah  
And didn't I give you nearly everything  
That a woman possibly can?  
Honey, you know I did! _

And each time I tell myself that I, well  
I think I've had enough  
But I'm gonna show you, baby  
That a woman can be tough 

"That a woman can be tough," Azalea sang.

"A woman can be tough," Severus sang back at her.

_Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah._

"Break a little bit of my heart now," Azalea and Severus sang.

_You know you got it  
If it makes you feel good  
Oh yes indeed!_

But as the concert continued, Severus and the others found that they seemed to be in the way as another band started trying to bring equipment to their area.

"That must be for Sly and The Family Stone," Steve announced. "They're the next band scheduled after Big Brother..."

_And I say, oh, whoa, whoa,  
Now hon', tell me why,  
Why does every single little tiny thing  
I hold on to go wrong ? _

Yeah it goes wrong, yeah.  
And I say, oh, whoa, whoa, now babe,  
Tell me why,  
Does every thing, every thing.

Hey, here you gone today,  
I wanted to love you, 

Azalea peered out into the audience.

"It looks like it stopped raining...let's go in front of the stage, we can dance there!"

She put her arm around Severus, and sang along with Janis as they left the stage.

_I just wanted to hold you,  
I said, for so long,  
Yeah! Alright! Hey! _

Love's got a hold on me, baby,  
Feels like a ball and chain.  
Now, love's just draggin' me down, baby,  
Feels like a ball and chain. 

As they returned under the stage, Janis' voice followed them.

_I hope there's someone out there  
Who could tell me  
Why the man I love wanna leave me  
In so much pain.  
Yeah, maybe, maybe  
You could help me, come on, help me! _

Here you've gone today,  
I wanted to love you and hold you  
'til the day I die.  
I said whoa, whoa, whoa!! 

"Let's get something to drink!" Dawn complained, so they made a detour to the kitchenette, and everyone grabbed a soft drink or a juice container. Azalea put some extras into her bag.

_And I say oh, whoa whoa, now baby  
This can't be, no this can't be in vain,  
And I say no, no, no, no  
No, no, no, no, whoa,_

_And I say whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa  
Now, now, now, now, now  
Now, now, now, now  
No, no, not in vain_

_Hey, hope there is someone  
That could tell me  
Hon', tell me why love is like  
Just like a ball  
Just like a ball_

_Baaaaaaalllll  
Oh daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy,  
Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy  
And a chain!  
Yeah!_

Janis stopped singing, so they decided to stay in the kitchenette until the next act started. About twenty minutes later, they heard music again.

_Stand!  
In the end you'll still be you  
One that's done all the things  
You set out to do _

Stand!  
There's a cross for you to bear  
Things to go through  
If you're going anywhere 

"Hey!" Steve announced. "Let's get out front!"

They made their way through the hallways under the stage and out the side.

_Stand!  
All the things you want are real  
You have you to complete  
And there is no deal _

Stand. stand, stand!  
Stand. stand, stand! 

They eventually worked their way to the front and found themselves between the edge of the stage, and the barricade holding back the hundreds of thousands of concert attendees.

_Stand!  
They will try to make you crawl  
And they know what  
You're saying makes sense and all _

Stand!  
Don't you know that you are free  
Well at least in  
Your mind if you want to be

Everybody!  
Stand, stand, stand! 

"How's _this_ for front row seats!" Steve shouted, as the song ended. He and the others spread out in front of the stage to give themselves enough room to dance when the next song started, leaving Severus, Yesmina, and Free by the right side of the stage.

Severus was intrigued by the size of the speakers, and the towers that supported them.

_Get up and dance to the music!  
Get on up and dance to the funky music!_

They needed no further prompting.

_Cynthia and Jerry got a message  
They're sayin': _

All the squares, go home!

Dance to the Music  
Dance to the Music 

This close to the stage, the music was a living thing, the sound waves pulsing with their own life force. Severus let it wash over him as he danced.

_Hey, music lover!  
Hey, music lover!_

The singer started talking about something that Severus neither knew or understood. But the audience responded, everyone starting to clap in rhythm to the music, so Severus joined in clapping as he danced.

_Feeling's gettin' stronger  
Music's gettin' longer too  
Music is flashin' me _

I want to take you higher  
Baby, baby, baby, light my fire

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka 

Severus became aware that someone was screaming. It was a terrible scream of great pain.

_  
Feelin's nitty-gritty  
Sound is in the city too  
Music's still flashin' me _

Don't ya want to get higher  
Baby, baby, baby, light my fire.

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka 

Yesmina had accidentally moved in front of one of the large speakers as she danced, only a few feet away from the pulsing tower.

Severus could see that she was bent over, and that her skin had large purple and black blotches on it. While Free was dancing nearby, she was unaware of what was happening to Yesmina. The others were too far away, and too oblivious, to see what was happening.

_Higher! _

C'mon light my fire!  
Want to take you higher!

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka 

Yesmina had collapsed into the mud, still screaming. Only Severus could see what was happening, and understood what it meant.

_  
Feelin' that should make you move  
Sounds that should help you groove  
Music still flashin' me_

He ran to Yesmina, picked her up as best he could, and started dragging her off to the side. By this time Free realized something was wrong, and came to Severus' aid.

_Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka_

Severus laid Yesmina on the grass off to the right of the stage. She had stopped screaming, but now she was moaning in pain as the ugly purple and black splotches spread over her face and body.

"Shit, man!" Free exclaimed, her voice shaking. "Like, what's wrong with her, man?"

Severus didn't answer and instead looked frantically through the bag that Yesmina carried, eventually retrieving the bottle that was half-full of the medicine that controlled her bleeding.

Severus gently lifted Yesmina's head, placing the open bottle between her lips, and carefully pouring small bits of the liquid into her mouth so that she wouldn't choke. As he did this, he softly chanted some words that could not be heard over the din of the concert.

"What's wrong with Yesmina!?" Severus heard Azalea demanding behind him. He glanced back and saw that the rest of the children had come over and were watching. Yesmina looked frantic.

"I don't know, man," Free answered. "She, like, just screamed and fell down and started turning all dark like that, man..."

"She _bleedin'_!" Azalea exclaimed. "_Do somethin', Sev!_"

He finished pouring the liquid down Yesmina's throat. She had stopped moaning, but was still covered in dark blotches and seemed to be semi-conscious.

Severus fished around in his own satchel, and retrieved some herbs and resins, quickly rolling the substances into small balls, and putting one into Yesmina's mouth.

"Yesmina!" he said softly. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Yesmina!" he repeated. "You need to chew that and swallow it!"

Yesmina attempted a weak smile, but did chew and with a little difficulty swallowed. Severus continued feeding her the medicine, resuming his chant, this time with the aid of his wand.

No one said anything while he did this; after some time, Yesmina was a little stronger, and the blotches faded from black and purple, to lavender and yellow.

Yesmina managed to sit up on her own.

"Thanks, Sev," she said weakly. "I'm feeling a lot better."

"Shouldn't we take her to the medical tent?" Steve asked, looking very pale.

"I'll be okay," Yesmina protested, trying to stand, but Severus stopped her.

"That might be best," he told her. staring intensely into her eyes. "Just to make sure."

Yesmina didn't say anything, but carefully got to her feet. She swayed, though, and it was obvious she couldn't walk, so Steve picked her up and started to carry her towards the medical tent, the others following.

Severus felt a warm hand slip into his. He looked, and saw that it was Azalea's. She was smiling at him, but had tears in her eyes.

"Thank you!" she mouthed wordlessly, squeezing his hand.

_On top of the sky  
Is a place where you go  
If you've done nothing wrong  
If you've done nothing wrong _

And down in the ground  
Is a place where you go  
If you've been a bad boy  
If you've been a bad boy

Why can't we have eternal life  
And never die, never die? 

There was quite a crowd of casualties at the Medical Tent, but when the staff saw how young Yesmina was, they made sure to look at her right away.

She was poked and prodded and had lights shone in her eyes and ears and mouth and her heartbeat listened to and her pulse and temperature taken. In the end she was pronounced as being in fine condition, but cautioned that she should go to bed and sleep for at least a couple of hours.

So with Angel and Steve holding her by her waist, they slowly walked back to the Free Kitchen, with Free, DeWard, and Dawn in their wake.

Severus was last, Azalea again holding his hand. Her eyes still glistened.

_You talk about your woman  
I wish you could see mine  
You talk about your woman  
I wish you could see mine  
Every time she starts to lovin'  
She brings eyesight to the blind_

Azalea squeezed Severus' hand.

"Thank you for savin' my little sister!" she whispered hoarsely, fighting back tears. "I don't know what I do if she..."

Azalea choked on whatever words she meant to say.

_You know her daddy gave her magic  
I can tell by the way she walks  
You know her daddy gave her magic  
I can tell by the way she walks  
Everytime we start shakin'  
The dumb begin to talk_

Severus stopped walking, giving Azalea's hand a squeeze.

"It's okay," he told her, staring deeply into her eyes. "I will always be there for you all. We're family."

Azalea looked at him for a few moments, then leaned over and gave him a big hug, breaking down into tears. Severus put his arms around her, not knowing what else to say to her.

_She's got the power to heal you, never fear  
She's got the power to heal you, never fear  
Just a word from her lips  
And the deaf begin to hear_

There was the faintest of glows in the eastern sky when they reached the minibus behind the Free Kitchen.

Unfortunately, the canopy and bedding had been left out, and had been drenched in the rain from the previous night.

And since Annie was sleeping in the back of the minibus, Free invited everyone to come sleep in the school bus she had come in. Steve and Dawn decided to go back to their own camp, so Free led Yesmina, supported by Angel and DeWard, to her camp, followed by Azalea and Severus, who were still holding hands.

_If your child ain't all he should be now  
This girl will put him right  
I'll show him what he could be now  
Just give me one night _

I'm the Gypsy - the Acid Queen  
Pay before we start  
I'm the Gypsy - the Acid Queen  
I'll tear your soul apart

Give us a room and close the door  
Leave us for a while  
Your boy won't be a boy no more  
Young, but not a child 

They had all of Free's school bus to themselves, as all the adults were still attending the concert. Free pulled out extra bedding for everyone, who by this time were so tired they just collapsed onto the nearest available quilt or blanket.

Azalea took Severus' head onto her lap and stroked it.

_Gather your wits and hold on fast  
Your mind must learn to roam  
Just as the Gypsy Queen must do  
You're gonna hit the road _

My work is done now look at him  
He's never been more alive  
His head it shakes his fingers clutch  
Watch his body writhe

I'm the Gypsy - the Acid Queen  
Pay before we start  
I'm the Gypsy - I'm guaranteed  
To break your little heart. 

"Welcome to Morning Maniac Music!" a woman's voice shouted into the microphone on stage, as another band started to play. "It's a new dawn, yeah!"

The sky continued to lighten. Severus wasn't sure whether he was still awake or dreaming or hallucinating. He decided that it did not matter.

_Would you like to know a secret  
Just between you and me  
I don't know where I'm going next  
I don't know who I'm gonna be _

But that's the other side of this life  
I've been leading  
That's the other side of this life

Well my whole world's in an uproar  
My whole world's upside down  
I don"t know where I'm going next  
But I'm always bumming around 

As the sun got brighter, it got warmer in the bus. Severus was lulled by the rhythm of his head resting in the lap of the sleeping Azalea, but for some reason sleep eluded him.

He felt a hand clasp his. He turned to look, and saw Yesmina lying by him, holding his hand, a soft smile on her face.

"Thank you," she whispered. "You're my hero..."

She squeezed his hand, and then laid her head on it, closing her eyes and going to sleep.

_Would you like to know a secret  
Just between you and me?  
I don't know where I'm going next,  
I don't know who I'm gonna be _

But that's the other side of this life I've been leading  
But that's the other side of this life. 

Severus laid there, his head in Azalea's lap, his hand in Yesmina's. Eventually his eyes grew heavy, and band that was currently playing lullaby'd him into sleep.

_Don't you want somebody to love  
Don't you need somebody to love  
Wouldn't you love somebody to love  
You better find somebody to love_

_

* * *

__

* * *

_

_. _

You told me goodbye  
How was I to know  
You didn't mean goodbye  
You meant please don't let me go

Was having a high time  
Living the good life  
Well I know

The wheels are muddy  
Got a ton of hay  
Now listen here baby  
'Cause I mean what I say

I'm having a high time  
Living the good life  
Well I know

I was losing time,  
I had nothing to do  
No-one to fight,  
I came to you

Wheels broke down,  
Leader won't draw  
The line is busted,  
The last one I saw

Tomorrow comes trouble  
Tomorrow comes pain  
Now don't think too hard, baby  
'Cause you know what I'm saying

I could show you a high time  
Living the good life  
Don't be that way

Nothing's for certain  
It could always go wrong  
Come in when it's raining  
Go on out when it's gone

We could have us a high time  
Living the good life  
Well I know 

**HIGH TIMES**  
Grateful Dead  
Woodstock - August 16, 1969

* * *

I put a spell on you  
Because you're mine

You better stop  
The things that you're doin'  
I said watch out!  
I ain't lyin', yeah!

I ain't gonna take none of your  
Foolin' around  
I ain't gonna take none of your  
Puttin' me down

I put a spell on you  
Because you're mine

All right!

(repeat 1x) 

**I PUT A SPELL ON YOU**  
Credence Clearwater Revival  
Woodstock - August 16, 1969_

* * *

_

If there's anythin' that you need, hon  
That you've never, ever, ever had  
I know you've never had it  
Oh, honey, don't you just sit there cryin'  
Don't just sit there feelin' bad  
No, no, no

You'd better get up  
Now do you understand  
And raise your hand!  
I said raise your hand, hey

You know I'm standin' about, yes I am  
Want to give you all my love, oh, honey  
Won't you come on and open up  
I said, open up your heart  
Please, let me try

You'd better to be good  
Don't ya understand?  
Raise your hand  
I said, raise your hand

Right here, right now, c'mon!!  
Whoaaaaah, oh yeah!!

If there's anything you need, honey  
That you ever, ever, ever try  
I want you to give it up  
I said to give it all  
Don't you know that you have

You'd better be good  
Don't ya understand  
Raise your hand  
I said, raise your hand

Raise it  
Raise it  
Raise it  
Raise  
Alright!!

Ha wah do wah  
Ha wah do wah  
Ha wah do wah  
Ha wah do wah

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hon  
Whoa, yeah  
Whoa, hon  
Whoa, yeah

I said every day when I go out  
I said I wanna move  
Every day when I go out  
I tell ya I wanna groove

I said move, yeah  
Said move now  
Move, yeah  
Whoa!

Honey, I want you to come along  
And raise your hand  
Babe, I want you to come along  
Raise your hand

If you know where you belong  
I'll tell you  
Here and now  
Said here and now  
Said here now, now, now, now, now, now, now!

Raise your hand, yeah  
Raise your hand, yeah  
Raise your hand, yeah  
Raise your hand, yeah

Raise your hand  
Raise your hand  
Raise your hand  
Raise your hand  
Raise your hand  
Raise your hand  
Raise your hand  
Raise your hand

Hey, hey, hey, get it up now  
Hey, hey, get it up now  
Hey, hey, get it up now  
Hey, hey, get it up

Raise your hand!  
Raise your hand!  
Raise your hand!  
Raise your hand!  
Raise your hand!  
Raise your hand!

Raise your hand, yeah!  
Yeah!!!  
Whoa!! 

**RAISE YOUR HAND**  
Janis Joplin  
Woodstock - August 16, 1969

* * *

Time keeps moving on  
Friends they turn away, Lordy Lord  
Well, I keep moving on  
But I never found out why  
I keep pushing so hard a dream  
I keep trying to make it right  
Through another lonely day  
Whoa!

Don't discover it lasts  
Honey, time keeps a-moving on, hey  
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Well, I'm twenty-five years older now  
So I know it can't be right  
And I'm no better baby and  
I can't help you no more  
Than I did when I was just a girl  
Yeah!

But it don't make no difference baby, no, no  
'Cause I know that I could always try  
There's a fire inside of everyone of us, huh-uh  
I'm gonna need it now  
I'm gonna hold it yeah  
I'm gonna use it till the day I die.

Don't, honey, don't you expect any answers, dear  
Ah, I know they don't come with ease, no, no, no, no

Hey, I ain't never gonna love you any better baby  
'Cause I'm never gonna love you right  
So you better take it now  
I said right, yes, now, yeah

But it don't make no difference baby, no, no  
'Cause I know that I could always try  
There's a fire inside of everyone of us, huh-uh  
I'm gonna need it now  
I'm gonna use it yeah  
I'm gonna hold it till the day I die

Don't make no difference babe, no, no, no  
Honey, I hate to be the one  
I said you're gonna live your life  
And you're gonna love, love, love your life

I'm gonna need it now  
I'm gonna hold it yeah  
I'm gonna use it, say, whoa!  
Don't make no difference, baby, no, no, no

Honey, I hate, I hate to be the one  
I said every time you're gonna wanna love somebody  
Every time you're gonna wanna need somebody  
You're gonna wanna turn around  
I'm gonna be there

No no no no no, no no no no no, no no no no  
When you're gonna put out your hand  
All your want is some kind of lovin' man  
He ain't gonna be there  
I said, not here

No no no no, no no no no, no no no no  
No no no, no no no, no no no no  
No no no no  
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa  
Whoa, wah wah, whoa  
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa

Honey when I wanna reach out my hand  
I said darling all I ever wanted  
Was for you to understand me now  
Whoa!

Ah baby, I wanna sing about me  
Lord, honey, every day yeah!

_**Spoken:**__  
This is a song that demands audience participation! All you have to do is clap your hands, man! I know you can cope with it no matter how stoned you are, man! We are all gonna cope with it, and we're all pretty stoned, too, man! Like that! I can't hardly hear you, man! _

Yeah! 

**KOZMIC BLUES**  
Janis Joplin  
Woodstock - August 16, 1969

* * *

Come on!  
Come on!

Didn't I make you feel  
Like you were the only man, well yeah  
And didn't I give you nearly everything  
That a woman possibly can?  
Honey, you know I did!

And each time I tell myself that I, well  
I think I've had enough  
But I'm gonna show you, baby  
That a woman can be tough

I want you to  
Come on  
Come on  
Come on  
Come on and take it!  
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby,

(break a..)  
Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah.  
(have a..)  
Hey!  
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby, yeah!

You know you got it  
If it makes you feel good  
Oh yes indeed

You're out on the streets looking good  
And baby, deep down in your heart  
I guess you know that it ain't right

Never never never never never never never Hear me when I cry at night  
Baby, I cry all the time!

And each time I tell myself that I, well  
I can't stand the pain  
But when you hold me in your arms  
I'll sing it once again

I'll say come on, come on, come on, come on, yeah take it!  
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby  
(break a..)  
Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah  
(come on!)  
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby, yeah  
Well, You know you got it, child  
If it makes you feel good

instrumental break

I need you to come on, come on, come on, come on and take it  
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby  
(break a...)  
Break another little bit of my heart, darling, yeah  
(have a...)  
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby  
You know you got it  
(waaaaahhh)

(Take a...)  
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby  
(break a...)  
Break another little bit of my heart, and darling, yeah, yeah  
(have a)  
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby  
You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good 

**PIECE OF MY HEART**  
Janis Joplin  
Woodstock - August 16, 1969_

* * *

_

Sittin' down by my window,  
Honey, lookin' out at the rain.  
Oh, Lord, Lord, sittin' down by my window,  
Baby, lookin' out at the rain.

Somethin' came along  
Grabbed a hold of me, honey,  
And it felt just like a ball and chain.  
Honey, that's exactly what it felt like,  
Honey, just dragging me down.

And I say, oh, whoa, whoa,  
Now hon', tell me why,  
Why does every single little tiny thing  
I hold on to go wrong ?

Yeah it goes wrong, yeah.  
And I say, oh, whoa, whoa, now babe,  
Tell me why,  
Does every thing, every thing.

Hey, here you gone today,  
I wanted to love you,  
I just wanted to hold you,  
I said, for so long,  
Yeah! Alright! Hey!

Love's got a hold on me, baby,  
Feels like a ball and chain.  
Now, love's just draggin' me down, baby,  
Feels like a ball and chain.

I hope there's someone out there  
Who could tell me  
Why the man I love wanna leave me  
In so much pain.  
Yeah, maybe, maybe  
You could help me, come on, help me!

And I say, oh, whoa, whoa,  
Now hon', tell me why,  
Now tell me, tell me, tell me,  
Tell me, tell me, tell me why, yeah.

And I say, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa,  
When I ask you,  
When I need to know why,  
C'mon tell me why, hey hey hey

Here you've gone today,  
I wanted to love you and hold you  
'til the day I die.  
I said whoa, whoa, whoa!!

And I say oh, whoa, whoa,  
No honey, it ain't fair, daddy  
It ain't fair what you do,  
I see what you're doin' to me  
And you know it ain't fair.

And I say oh, whoa whoa now baby  
It ain't fair, now, now, now,  
What you do, I said hon' it ain't fair what,  
Hon' it ain't fair what you do.  
Oh, here you gone today

And all I ever wanted to do  
Was to love you  
Honey you can still hear me  
Rock and roll the best,  
Only it ain't roll, no, no, no, no, no.

Sittin' down by my window,  
Lookin' out at the rain.  
Lord, Lord, Lord,  
Sittin' down by my window,  
Lookin' out at the rain, see the rain.

Somethin' came along,  
Grabbed a hold of me,  
And it felt like a ball and chain.  
Oh this can't be in vain  
And I'm gonna tell you one more time, yeah, yeah!

And I say oh, whoa whoa, now baby  
This can't be, no this can't be in vain,  
And I say no no no no no no no no, whoa,  
And I say whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa  
Now now now now now now now now now  
No no not in vain

Hey, hope there is someone  
That could tell me  
Hon', tell me why love is like  
Just like a ball  
Just like a ball  
Baaaaaaalllll

Oh daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy,  
Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy  
And a chain!  
Yeah! 

**BALL AND CHAIN**  
Janis Joplin  
Woodstock - August 16, 1969_

* * *

_

Stand!  
In the end you'll still be you  
One that's done all the things  
You set out to do

Stand!  
There's a cross for you to bear  
Things to go through  
If you're going anywhere

Stand!  
For the things you know are right  
It s the truth that  
The truth makes them so uptight

Stand!  
All the things you want are real  
You have you to complete  
And there is no deal

Stand. stand, stand!  
Stand. stand, stand!

Stand!  
You've been sitting much too long  
There's a permanent  
Crease in your right and wrong

Stand!  
There's a midget standing tall  
And the giant  
Beside him about to fall

Stand. stand, stand!  
Stand. stand, stand!

Stand!  
They will try to make you crawl  
And they know what  
You're saying makes sense and all

Stand!  
Don't you know that you are free  
Well at least in  
Your mind if you want to be

Everybody!  
Stand, stand, stand! 

**STAND!**  
Sly & The Family Stone  
Woodstock - August 16, 1969_

* * *

_

Get up and dance to the music!  
Get on up and dance to the funky music!

Dance to the Music  
Dance to the Music

All we need is a drummer,  
For people who only need a beat

I'm gonna add a little guitar  
And make it easy to move your feet

I'm gonna add some bottom,  
So that the dancers just won't hide

You might like to hear my organ Playin' "Ride Sally Ride"

You might like to hear the horns blowin', Cynthia on the throne, yeah!

Cynthia and Jerry got a message  
They're sayin':

All the squares, go home!

Dance to the Music  
Dance to the Music 

**DANCE TO THE MUSIC  
**Sly and The Family Stone  
Woodstock - August 16-17, 1969_

* * *

_

Feeling's gettin' stronger

Music's gettin' longer too

Music is flashin' me

I want to take you higher  
Baby, baby, baby, light my fire

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka

Feelin's nitty-gritty

Sound is in the city too

Music's still flashin' me

Don't ya want to get higher  
Baby, baby, baby, light my fire.

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka

(Harmonica solo)

(All Repeated)

Higher!

C'mon light my fire!  
Want to take you higher!

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka

Feelin' that should make you move

Sounds that should help you groove

Music still flashin' me

Take your places!  
I want to take you higher!  
Baby, baby, baby, light my fire.

(Guitar solo)

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka

(All Repeated)

Higher!

Let's take you, do you wanna go, etc.

(Trumpet solo)

(All Repeated)

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka

Higher!

(Bass solo)

(All Repeated)

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka

Higher!

(Sax solo)

(All Repeated)

Boom shaka-laka-laka  
Boom shaka-laka-laka 

**I WANT TO TAKE YOU HIGHER  
**Sly and The Family Stone  
Woodstock - August 16-17, 1969

* * *

On top of the sky  
Is a place where you go  
If you've done nothing wrong  
If you've done nothing wrong

And down in the ground  
Is a place where you go  
If you've been a bad boy  
If you've been a bad boy

Why can't we have eternal life  
And never die, never die?

In the place up above  
You grow feather wings  
And you fly round and round  
With a harp singing hymns.

And down in the ground  
You grow horns and a tail  
And you carry a fork  
And burn away.

Why can't we have eternal life  
And never die, never die? 

**HEAVEN AND HELL  
**The Who  
Woodstock - August 16-17, 1969

* * *

You talk about your woman  
I wish you could see mine  
You talk about your woman  
I wish you could see mine  
Every time she starts to lovin'  
She brings eyesight to the blind

You know her daddy gave her magic  
I can tell by the way she walks  
You know her daddy gave her magic  
I can tell by the way she walks  
Everytime we start shakin'  
The dumb begin to talk

She's got the power to heal you, never fear  
She's got the power to heal you, never fear  
Just a word from her lips  
And the deaf begin to hear 

**EYESIGHT TO THE BLIND  
**The Who  
Woodstock - August 16-17, 1969

* * *

_If your child ain't all he should be now  
This girl will put him right  
I'll show him what he could be now  
Just give me one night_

_I'm the Gypsy - the Acid Queen  
Pay before we start  
I'm the Gypsy - the Acid Queen  
I'll tear your soul apart_

_Give us a room and close the door  
Leave us for a while  
Your boy won't be a boy no more  
Young, but not a child_

_I'm the Gypsy - the Acid Queen  
Pay before we start  
I'm the Gypsy - the Acid Queen  
I'll tear your soul apart_

_Gather your wits and hold on fast  
Your mind must learn to roam  
Just as the Gypsy Queen must do  
You're gonna hit the road_

_My work is done now look at him  
He's never been more alive  
His head it shakes his fingers clutch  
Watch his body writhe_

_I'm the Gypsy - the Acid Queen  
Pay before we start  
I'm the Gypsy - I'm guaranteed  
To break your little heart._

**ACID QUEEN**  
The Who  
Woodstock - August 16-17, 1969

* * *

Would you like to know a secret  
Just between you and me  
I don't know where I'm going next  
I don't know who I'm gonna be

But that's the other side of this life  
I've been leading  
That's the other side of this life

Well my whole world's in an uproar  
My whole world's upside down  
I don"t know where I'm going next  
But I'm always bumming around

And that's another side to this life I've been leading  
And that's another side to this life

Well I don't know what I'm  
Doing for half the time,  
I don't know where I'm going  
I think I'll get me a sailing boat and  
Sail the Gulf of Mexico

But that's another side of this life I've been leading  
And that's another side of this life

Well I think I'll go to Nashville down in Tennessee  
The ten cent life I've been leading here  
Gonna be the death of me

But that's the other side of this life I've been leading  
And that's another side to this life

Would you like to know a secret  
Just between you and me?  
I don't know where I'm going next,  
I don't know who I'm gonna be

But that's the other side of this life I've been leading  
But that's the other side of this life. 

**THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE**  
Jefferson Airplane  
Woodstock -- August 17, 1969

* * *

When the truth is found to be lies  
And all the joy within you dies

Chorus:  
Don't you want somebody to love  
Don't you need somebody to love  
Wouldn't you love somebody to love  
You better find somebody to love

When the garden's flowers, baby, are dead  
Yes, and your mind, your mind is so full of dread

(Chorus)

Your eyes, I say your eyes may look like his  
Yeah but in your head, baby  
I'm afraid you don't know where it is

(Chorus)

Tears are running, they're all running  
Down your breast  
And your friends, baby,  
They treat you like a guest

(Chorus)

_**  
**_**SOMEBODY TO LOVE**  
Jefferson Airplane  
Woodstock - August 17, 1969 


	12. Chap 10 A Little Help From One's Friends

_Chapter 10 - A Little Help From My Friends (reprise)_

_Sunday, August 17, 1969

* * *

_

Severus was dreaming of somewhere warm; the setting sun was bright red, the sky orange and yellow. He was standing on a beach of white sand, a violet sea lapping at his feet, a lush green forest at his back.

The only thing disturbing his tranquility were the bees. Or perhaps they were flies. Or wasps. Or giant dragonflies..

Something kept buzzing. In fact, many things were buzzing, at different levels of volume and of pitch. It was really quite annoying.

Severus opened his eyes and blinked. It was quite bright in the school bus.

He was still lying with his head in Azalea's lap, and Yesmina still clutched his hand under her own head. Severus carefully removed it from her grasp without waking her, and sat up, looking around.

He estimated by the angle of the sun that it must be late morning. Everyone was still asleep, including Angel, who was snoring.

That explained one of the buzzing sounds he had heard. Helicopters landing and taking off nearby explained some of the other sounds he'd dreamt.

Someone's transistor radio crackled in the distance.

_"...Gulfport area, with sustained winds estimated in excess of 100 miles per hour..."_

That explained another one of the buzzing sounds.

_"Testing...testing...testing..."_ someone was speaking from the stage, as the speakers crackled and squealed. There was a general murmur from the hundreds of thousands in the field in front of the stage.

Azalea stirred and opened her eyes, followed by Free, and then Yesmina. Angel continued to snore, and DeWard was blissfully unaware of anything.

"Good morning," Free yawned, putting some sort of large stuffed "something" that she had been sleeping with behind her, and then she placed her hands on the floor in front of her and stretched like a cat.

Azalea yawned and stretched in the normal manner, mumbling something unintelligible.

"Good morning," Yesmina responded, sitting up and looking at her arms and legs, which only had faint yellow splotches on them this morning.

Azalea yawned again and rubbed her eyes, and then seemed to just become aware of Angel's snoring. She glared at him, and then kicked him.

This startled Angel, who sputtered and thrashed, accidentally kicking DeWard.

"Ow!" DeWard exclaimed, pulling away and rubbing his side.

"Wha...! Wha...!" Angel continued to sputter, sitting up and looking around, disoriented.

"You snorin', asshole!" Azalea shouted, searching in her handbag. "You wake everyone up!"

"If you all were already awake," Angel mumbled, rubbing his eyes, "why didn't you just let me go on sleeping?"

He yawned, and Azalea kicked him again.

"Why should _you_ sleep if _you_ wake everyone else up, asshole?" she demanded.

"Fuck you!" was Angel's response, which got him another kick from Azalea.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Severus asked Yesmina. She had lifted her shirt and was looking at her stomach, which also had faint yellow blotches.

"I'm feeling fine, thanks, Sev," she answered. "It looks like you not only stopped the bleeding, but it's mostly healed, too."

"What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for half a million people..." someone was announcing from the stage.

"What _that_ thing?" Azalea demanded, brushing her hair and nodding towards the item Free had put behind herself.

Free looked at it with a slight nervous laugh, then held it up, blushing slightly.

"It's Bub," she smiled shyly.

Severus had never seen Free like this before, and considered it an improvement.

"What the fuck's a bub!?" Azalea demanded, staring at it.

It was sort of a shapeless thing almost as tall as Free, made of cloth in tones of grey and khaki, with semi-anthropomorphic features.

At one time, it had a face and hair and clothes, but now was threadbare, with a short tear in one seam through which stuffing kept popping out.

Free hugged Bub tightly.

"Bub's just Bub, man!" Free laughed. "I've had him for, like, forever, man!"

"Bub be nasty!" Azalea exclaimed, which only caused Free to hug Bub more tightly.

"Everyone makes fun of him," Free smiled. "But I don't care, I love him and I can't go to sleep without him..."

Severus and Yesmina smiled at Free, but Azalea still looked at Free's toy with disgust.

"It still be nasty!" she repeated.

"Not really," Free answered. "My mom takes him apart and washes him every couple of months, so he's not really dirty. It's just that I've had him so long and loved him so much, his face and clothes came off..."

Azalea's lip curled in disgust as she continued to brush her hair.

"Leave her alone, asshole!" Angel told Azalea. "You only wish someone love _you_ enough, you face and clothes come off!"

"_You_ nasty!" Azalea screamed, attempting to both kick Angel and hit him with her brush, but he had anticipated her reaction and had scrambled out of her reach, laughing.

"That's...that's the best anyone can hope for!" Angel laughed, trying to catch his breath. "That someone love us until our face fall off!"

Angel continued to roll on the floor, laughing. Everyone else laughed too, except for Azalea who seemed unconvinced.

"In _your_ case it be an improvement!" Azalea shouted at him. "Not see yo' ugly face no mo', asshole! Someone need to take the stuffin' outta _you_, give _you_ a good scrubbin' cuz you nasty!"

"Sev can do it!" Angel laughed, pointing at him. "He can take that magic wand of his, take the stuffing outta _all_ of us, give us all a good wash!"

Angel giggled.

"Don't know if he can love the faces off of _all _of us, though!" Angel laughed.

Everyone laughed at this, even Azalea. Severus just smiled.

"I will leave you all your faces," he stated.

"Yeah, but will you be takin' the stuffin' out of us?" Angel giggled.

"Maybe," Severus smiled. "Maybe someone _needs_ the stuffing taken out of them!"

Azalea put her hands on her hips and glared at Severus.

"Well maybe someone need to take the stuffin' outta _you_, English Boy!"

Angel guffawed.

"Notice how she automatically thinks it's all about her!" he exclaimed, and when Azalea glared at him, he added, "He didn't say _who_, did he? Why you think he talkin' 'bout _you_?"

Before Azalea and Angel could get into a real fight, Yesmina interrupted.

"Can we all hug Bub, Free?" she asked. Free looked surprised, but then handed the toy to Yesmina.

Yesmina took Bub and clasped him to her chest with a big hug, and then kissed what at one time must have been his head. She then passed Bub to Severus, who took it only to be polite.

Point of fact, he rather agreed with Azalea that the thing was pretty nasty. However, he was surprised when he did take it from Yesmina, that he could feel waves of love emanating from the thing.

It was almost as if a spell had been put on it, turning it into a Love Charm. And perhaps many years of a little girl's love did do just that.

Severus gave Bub a hug, and passed it to Azalea, who only held it with her thumb and index finger. She brought it to her nose and sniffed it, but since it didn't smell nasty she gave Bub a cursory hug before tossing him to Angel.

Angel deftly caught Bub, and then looked into what may at one time been Bub's eyes.

"Hello, Bub!" Angel exclaimed, shaking Bub's right appendage. "My name is Angel, and I'm very glad to meet you. You're looking very well, and I am _very_ proud to give you a hug!"

Angel clasped Bub to his chest, and squeezed Bub to him with both arms, giving Bub an even bigger kiss than Yesmina had. He then squeezed Bub even harder, swinging back and forth with the toy, glancing at Azalea all the while.

Azalea just grimaced and stated, "You crazy!"

Angel smirked, and handed Bub to DeWard, who held him out at arm's length, inspecting him. DeWard then shrugged, hugged the toy, and handed it back to Free.

Free hugged Bub, and rocked back and forth, smiling.

"Thanks," she said. "For not making fun of me. Some kids do..."

She carefully laid Bub behind her.

"My dad got him at some fair when I was a baby," she explained. "I don't remember a time when I didn't have Bub..."

She took a brush from her own bag and started brushing her hair.

"So, like, are we going to try to get some breakfast before it's all gone, man?" she asked.

"We need to go get us some clean clothes first!" Azalea decided. "And go wash in that lake..."

She gave up trying to tug the brush through her hair, and tossed her brush back into her bag. Angel grimaced at her.

"You act like you think you stayin' at some fancy hotel!" he laughed. "Why don't you just relax?"

Azalea looked at him in disgust, getting to her feet and putting her hands on her hips.

"Maybe _you_ don't care about bein' nasty!" she shouted at him. "But _some_ of us prefer to be _hygienic_!"

And with that, she stormed off the bus.

The rest just looked at each other, then Angel, DeWard, and Severus all started to laugh. Even Yesmina chuckled, getting to her feet.

"That's one uptight chick, man!" Free announced, shrugging her shoulders, then grabbing a bag in the corner and pulling out a dashiki and a clean pair of underpants. Without pausing, she pulled off the dress and underpants she was wearing and put them into a large satchel that seemed to be a catchall for everyone's dirty laundry.

She then put on the clean items, reached for a scarf and her own bag, and got to her feet. It was only then that she noticed that DeWard was staring at her with his mouth open, but Angel and Severus only looked bemused.

"Like, you comin', man?" she asked, and then went out the back of the bus. DeWard turned to the other two.

"She takes off her clothes a lot, doesn't she?" DeWard whispered hoarsely.

"Yeah," Angel agreed, getting to his feet. Severus also stood up.

"It's because her people do it," Severus explained. "She was never made to feel ashamed of her body."

And he wondered why he had ever been ashamed of his own. He had discovered yesterday that the body was just an illusion, that the real self transcended what was in reality just an earthen vessel. What one put on it was just ornament, nothing else.

"It's a shame that we have to put anything on our bodies," Severus mused aloud. Angel nodded in agreement, but DeWard did not look convinced.

"I don't think I'm ashamed of my body," he stated. "And I sorta liked taking my clothes off at the lake the other day, but I felt funny about taking everything off...I don't think I could ever just go around all the time without anything on...'specially in winter..."

Severus laughed.

"Yes, that might be a problem!" he agreed.

"So how does Free do it?" DeWard asked.

"She lives in L.A.," Angel answered, pulling DeWard to his feet. "Don't get cold there..."

"Where _is_ that?" Severus asked. Angel turned to him.

"California," he answered. "On the west coast. Don't get cold, don't snow there. People can run around naked all the time, if they want."

DeWard's mouth dropped open.

"_Do_ they all go naked there?" he demanded. "Cuz I heard Annie and Benjie say we may end up there!" Angel turned back to DeWard, a look of surprise on his face.

"When you hear that?"

"A coupla days ago," DeWard answered. "Just before we came here. They was sayin' somethin' about goin' to some commune, I heard them say 'New Mexico', but then they said something about California. So will we have to go naked if we go to California?"

Severus was trying to envision a country where everyone went nude.

"I knew about New Mexico," Angel answered. "That's where they said they were heading. But we're supposed to stop by Azalea's relatives first. First her father, he's in Missouri, I think. And if she can't stay there, then we're goin' down to Louisiana to stay with her grandma. We might not even go to New Mexico, if her granny agrees to let us all stay. California's news to me."

Most of this statement was news to Severus.

He knew that they were not returning to New York, that Annie and Benjie had planned on going to something called a commune in a place called New Mexico.

However, all of the information regarding Azalea's relatives was a revelation. She had talked about her grandmother often, and had even mentioned once or twice that her mother lived elsewhere, but for some reason could not keep Azalea with her.

Severus did not even know that she had a father, since she never mentioned him. He definitely had had no idea that the plan was for them to go stay with Azalea's family.

But as he thought about it, the more it pleased him. He was more than curious about what her people were like, and actually looked forward to not only meeting them, but living with them, too.

Severus smiled to himself at the thought. He wondered if they would let Lily stay, too. Or at least, let her visit for extended stays.

"Don't get your hopes up," Angel interrupted, as if he was able to read Severus' thoughts. "There's a _reason_ she _wasn't_ stayin' with any of 'em, right? Why you think she with that bitch aunt if everythin's so hunky-dory with Dad or Grandma?"

He put his hand around DeWard's shoulder and guided him toward the exit at the back of the bus. Severus just stood there, pondering Angel's statement.

"You comin'?" he asked Severus, pausing at the exit. Severus stirred from his reverie, picked up his satchel, and joined Angel and DeWard.

When they got outside, none of the girls were around. They started walking towards where Annie and Benjie's minibus was parked.

"You ask me," Angel stated, "we gonna end up with Annie and Benjie in New Mexico. Or California. Wherever _they_ go, we'll go. But Azalea need to find that out herself."

He stopped and looked directly at Severus.

"Don't say nothin' to her about it," Angel instructed. "She only get mad if anyone say that, we don't need to be killin' her hope..."

He shrugged and resumed walking.

"And who know?" he mused. "Maybe things got better since she be gone, maybe one of 'em _can_ take her back now. But even if that so, whatcha wanna bet they take the rest of us, too?"

Severus thought about Angel's statement.

"Maybe they will," he mused. "Especially if Azalea asked..."

Angel snorted.

"They can't afford to keep _her_!" he exclaimed. "That why she not with them now! Even if they take her back, they not goin' to be takin' in some strange little black kid, two Ricans, 'specially one who sick, and one honky white boy!"

Angel looked Severus up and down.

"No matter _how_ much a bro' his tan make him look!" Angel laughed. Severus held out his arms, shaking the sleeves of his smock up so that he could contemplate his skin. It _was_ very brown.

"'Bro'?" he asked. "What does that mean?"

"Bro'...brother," Angel answered. "It mean you look like one of us, now!" He laughed.

Severus was not sure he understood. Did getting a tan turn him into a Muggle?

"It mean you don't look white no more!" Angel added, seeing Severus' confused look. "You look Rican, maybe even black..."

"He looks like an injun," DeWard opined. "He got straight hair like one!"

"Yeah," Angel agreed. "Could pass for an Indian. But there be Spanish with straight hair, too!"

"Let me see if I understand." Severus interrupted. "You are saying that because my skin is now dark, I'm now black? Or Indian? Or, what did you call it, 'Rican'?"

"Puerto Rican," Angel corrected. "But maybe you be Mexican...they got Indian _and_ Spanish, they have straight hair like you..."

He laughed when he saw Severus' confused look.

"No, bro'," he smiled. "If it fades, it don't count! You still a honky!"

"What's a 'honky'?" Severus asked. Angel stopped laughing and actually looked a little ashamed.

"It's an insult, sorry," Angel apologized. "Don't let Azalea know I said that, I always on her case for using 'spick', and if we gonna tell you not to use that 'muggo' word, it's not right to call you honky..."

"Apology accepted," Severus smiled. "But what does it mean?"

"It's a word we use against whites," Angel mumbled, obviously upset that he'd used the word. "Forget it; I shouldn't have said it, even as a joke."

"It's okay..._bro'_," Severus smiled. "No offense taken...especially since I didn't know what it meant, and I am still not sure that I do."

Angel had stopped walking when Severus had said the word 'bro'. He smiled, and held out his hand, palm up.

"Okay, _bro_," he exclaimed. "Lay some skin one me!"

Severus just stood there looking at Angel's hand, not knowing what to do. Angel smirked, reached for Severus' hand and turned it palm up, then slapped his own palm on Severus'. He then turned his own hand palm up and held it out.

"Now you do the same!" he instructed Severus. Severus hesitated, then slapped Angel's palm.

"That's how you lay some skin on a dude!" Angel exclaimed, and then held his arm up, palm facing Severus. "Now do the same thing, to give me a high five!"

Severus looked around, but only DeWard was watching. He slapped Angel's palm with his own, then Angel grabbed Severus' arm, raised it with the palm turned out, and slapped it with the palm of his other hand.

"That's how you do a high five!" Angel exclaimed. "That's how bro's greet each other!"

He smirked and started walking again, puffed up with pride.

Severus and DeWard looked at each other, then DeWard held out his hand, palm up. Severus slapped it, then DeWard slapped Severus' upturned palm. However, DeWard finished by giving a 'thumbs up' sign to Severus, then he turned and followed after Angel.

Severus shrugged, and then ran to catch up with the other two.

As they came up to the Free Kitchen, DeWard announced that he needed to use the bathroom. They went around to where the portable toilet had been set up, but were confronted with a line of close to 100 people waiting to use it.

If that wasn't bad enough, most people were immediately exiting the facility in disgust as soon as they entered it, deciding instead to go off into the woods.

The boys decided to do the same, and had only gone a short way into the woods when they encountered Free standing by some bushes.

"What's up?" Angel asked. "Thought you were going with the others back to our minibus."

"Don't look!" Azalea's voice came from behind the bushes, so of course DeWard did.

"DeWard!" Yesmina's voice admonished. It sounded like she wasn't too far from Azalea.

DeWard turned back to Angel and Severus, a smirk on his face.

"We had to use the bathroom, man," Free explained. "But the line was too long..."

"It smell nasty, too!" Azalea added.

"So we came back here..." Free continued.

"Yeah, that was our idea, also," Angel stated.

"Watch where you step, man," Free told them, making a general gesture behind her. "Everyone else has the same idea, too."

"Don't you have to go, too?" Angel asked her.

"I already did," Free explained. She then gestured to the dashiki she was wearing.

"That's why I wear things like this to things like this, man," she explained.

The boys looked at her blankly.

"It's quicker and cleaner," Free added. "Found that out at a couple of festivals my old man and lady took me to years ago. Nothing as big as this, of course, but they didn't have any bathrooms, either, man. "

Yesmina came out from behind the bushes, looking slightly embarrassed.

"After you, like, had to have gone through squatting a few times and getting your jeans splashed, man, you figure out that it's easier to wear a dress or a dashiki, man," Free continued. "Just have to hike it up a bit, man, when you squat, and it gives you, like, more privacy, if that's important to you...even my old man wears dashikis to these things now"

"_I'm_ not wearin' no dress!" DeWard announced, but Severus and Angel just stared at Free, trying to picture what she had just explained.

Azalea came out from behind the bushes, handing a roll of toilet tissue to Free.

"Oh!" Free added, laughing. "And you learn to carry one of these things with you, man!"

"She smart!" Azalea announced. "Why no one else think o' that?"

Free handed the toilet tissue to Angel.

"We'll she you back at your place, man," she told them, and the girls went off together, Yesmina turning and smiling at the boys.

Angel looked at the roll of toilet tissue, and started tossing it up in the air and catching it.

"You _do_ gotta give Free credit!" he announced. "She _is_ smart, and she _does_ have a point!"

He led the way farther into the woods.

"I still won't wear no dress!" DeWard reiterated.

"Dashikis aren't dresses," Angel told him. "They're what Africans wear, even the men. Sorta like that smock of Severus', only longer..."

"Sev's smock is a shirt!" DeWard announced. "If it was long it would be a dress! He ain't wearin' no dress!"

Which was true, but it _was_ much longer than DeWard's or Angel's own tee shirts, and therefore when a few minutes later they were taking care of their necessary business, Severus was the only one who was not totally exposed.

Not that such a thing mattered to him any longer...his body, like everyone's body, was inherently beautiful, and that included the natural processes of the body. However, as Free had stated, it _was_ something that mattered to others.

And even though since yesterday, Angel seemed much more relaxed regarding his own body, Severus noticed that his friend still was somewhat nervous, insisting on keeping watch while DeWard and Severus took care of their needs, and only taking his turn when they were finished.

When they returned to the minibus, they were confronted with the sight of a bedraggled canopy, and wet, muddy bedding on the ground. They could hear Azalea inside the VW alternately whining or swearing, and Annie's voice trying to assure her that everything was going to be okay.

Free was sitting in the back door to the Free Kitchen.

"Azalea's upset, man," she announced unnecessarily.

"What's wrong?" Severus asked as they came up to her.

"Everything got wet last night," Free explained. "But I think Annie got everyone's clothes inside the bus, it's only the blankets and stuff that're muddy, man. But Azalea, she doesn't like mud, does she?"

The boys made no effort to move. It was an unspoken agreement to let the drama in the minibus play out on its own.

"Annie isn't feeling well," Free added. "That's why she's sleeping in the VW."

"Anything to eat?" DeWard asked, gesturing to the interior of the Free Kitchen.

"Nah, man!" Free answered. "They ran outta food. That's another thing's got Azalea upset. Only the Hog Farm's, like, got anything left, that's where we're going to next, man."

"You okay now, honey?" they could hear Annie asking, to which Azalea mumbled something unintelligible. Yesmina slipped out of the back of the VW, putting a towel into her already stuffed bag. She looked over at Free and the boys, and smiled nervously as she came over to them.

"Azalea's upset," she told them. "A lot of things got wet, but only the stuff we'd already worn. Annie made sure the rest of our stuff was inside the bus, they're clean and dry. But Azalea's still upset. She says she wants to leave."

She sat down next to Free.

"Annie's trying to calm her down," she continued, a look of concern clouding her face. "Annie doesn't look good. She says she's just tired, but she looks pale."

The boys looked at each other, and then went over to the VW.

Azalea was sitting in the front passenger seat with a couple of duffle bags and satchels, pulling things out and tossing some things one way, and other things into another pile.

Annie was lying in the back, using a rolled up quilt as a pillow. When she saw the boys, she smiled wanly. Severus saw that Yesmina was correct -- Annie indeed looked pale.

"Hi, guys!" Annie sighed, lying back on her quilt pillow. "How's it goin'?"

"Fine." Severus answered. "How are _you_, Annie?"

"A little tired," she admitted. "Benjie's helping at the Hog Farm, if you want to get breakfast there...we ran out of food yesterday..."

Azalea mumbled something about fuckin' assholes havin' no food and continued sorting like a mad woman.

Annie glanced at her, and then sighed before turning back to the boys.

"Azalea's unhappy that some of your things got wet last night," Annie said, smiling sadly. "Most of it was in here, but the doors were open and some stuff still got wet..."

Azalea was now grumbling about fuckin' rain and mud and clean, dry, clothes.

Angel crawled past Annie and retrieved his and DeWard's bags, and took them outside before going through them.

"Is there anything I can get you, Annie?" Severus asked.

"Oh, no...thanks, hon," she answered, sighing and closing her eyes, using one arm to cover them. "My stomach's a little queasy, and really I'd just like to get some sleep."

Severus retrieved his own bag, but found that since he'd left it right by the open side door of the minibus, that it had indeed been rained on, and that everything inside was quite damp. He stuffed everything back in and rezipped the bag before tossing it into the corner.

"You stuff all wet," Azalea said, more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah," Severus answered. "That's okay; I'll just wear what I already have on."

Azalea looked at him critically, and then took the items she'd sorted into one pile and stuffed them into a dry duffle bag. From what Severus could see, it looked like a couple of towels, something that looked like a dress or a robe, and a couple of scarves.

She exited out the passenger door, and Severus joined her by leaving through the backside door. When they got to the back of the minibus, they saw that Steve and Dawn had joined them. Angel and DeWard had changed their shirts and put their bags back into the vehicle, wishing Annie goodbye...

"So, we goin' for some breakfast?" Angel asked.

"We go wash first!" Azalea announced, hefting the duffle over one shoulder and her shoulder bag over the other.

"_I'm_ hungry!" DeWard complained. "They might run out of food before we get back!"

"_Fine_!" Azalea shouted at him, causing DeWard to take a few steps backward and cower behind Steve. "You wanna go around all stinky and nasty, you go ahead! Some of us are more _refined_!"

"Yeah," Angel retorted, "when you see some of those _refined_ people, you be sure to point 'em out to us!"

He ran about ten feet away before Azalea could do anything to him. The rest just laughed, but DeWard made sure to keep Steve between himself and Azalea.

"All you have to do is wait, Azalea," Steve laughed. "It's gonna rain this afternoon, you can just take a shower then!"

This statement caused not only Azalea, but also Angel, Severus, and DeWard to stop and stare at the bright, sunlit sky. Azalea then glared at Steve, then back at the sky. It was as if she couldn't make up her mind whether to curse Steve, or to curse Mother Nature.

Angel and Severus looked at each other; Severus shrugged.

"I ain't gonna say anything!" Angel exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "He seems to be right about those things."

"Yeah, it's gonna rain," Steve mused, looking around not only at the sky, but also at the trees. "Heavy rain, by the looks of it..."

"There ain't a cloud in the sky!" Azalea shouted at him, as if she now suspected that Steve somehow was causing the daily rain.

Severus looked at the sky again. While it was technically true that there wasn't A cloud, the sky was actually almost a complete blanket of haze. He then looked at the trees, trying to discern what Steve had seen there.

Severus eventually noticed that many of the leaves seemed to be curled, showing their silver undersides. In addition, some branches were swaying, even though there wasn't any breeze on the ground.

"You see it, don't you, Sev?" Steve prompted.

"Yes," Severus answered. "I think I do. I never noticed it before..."

"I don't think Europeans knew about it before coming here," Steve explained. "The Indians had to teach them."

Severus was beginning to think that it would be very interesting to meet some of these Indians.

Azalea turned to Severus.

"Can't you _do_ somethin' to stop it rainin'?" she demanded.

"I don't know any weather magick," Severus mused, still gazing at the sky and nearby flora. Then it dawned on him that Azalea seemed to have concluded that he indeed knew how to perform magick. He turned to her.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I'd try it for you if I knew how."

Azalea snorted, mumbled something that sounded like "What the fuck good are you?", and stormed off in the direction of the Hog Farm food tent. Yesmina jumped up from where she was sitting next to Free to run after Azalea. Free stood up and slowly walked over to the rest.

"So, like, are we eating or washing, man?"

"I think we're eating," Steve mused, watching the direction Azalea and Yesmina were walking. They all started to follow.

"I _would_ do something about the weather if I could," Severus whispered to Angel. Angel took a few moments before answering.

"I think Azalea, she thinks you can do anything," he mused. "Or most anything. She depends on you, but won't admit it."

Severus thought about that statement. A bubble of pride started to grow in the pit of his stomach, spreading out to his lungs, and down his legs. Azalea thought he could do anything. He grinned broadly.

They came up to the Hog Farm tent, which was a beehive of activity. A group of people were busy mixing large quantities of dried substances and then portioning it out into Dixie Cups. Others were bringing these cups out to the people sitting in the field in front of the stage, or else coming back from one of these trips.

Azalea was standing staring at the activity, hands on her hips. She glared at the others as they came up behind her.

"How the fuck we gonna get somethin' to eat?" she demanded, then stared down at Severus' still grinning face.

"What _you_ so happy 'bout?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Severus answered, still grinning. Azalea looked at him suspiciously.

"You look like some crazy fool, grinnin' like that!" she spat out.

Severus just reached out, put his arms around her waist, leaned his head on her breasts, and squeezed as hard as he could.

This took Azalea by surprise, and her automatic reaction was to put her arms around Severus' head, stroking his hair, but then she recovered herself and pushed him away.

"You still trippin'!" she exclaimed, but she didn't seem as angry as before.

"Oh!" Free exclaimed. "Are we supposed to, like, all hug now, man?"

Without waiting for an answer, she reached out for Yesmina and hugged her. DeWard and Dawn needed no further prompting to hug each other. Steve and Angel looked at each other; Steve laughed, then reached out and hugged Angel.

Azalea and Severus stared at this scene; Azalea gave a snort of disgust.

"You all start kissin' next!" she spat out in disgust, but Free just let go of Yesmina and turned to Azalea and hugged her, and also gave her a kiss on her cheek.

Steve let go of Angel, and turned to Severus with his arms held open, inviting a hug. Severus hesitated; Steve chuckled and then stepped up and put his arms around Severus, giving him a bear hug.

Severus had never had someone of his own sex hug him before; the only touches he ever got from his own father were violent ones.

This must be what it is like to have an older brother, Severus thought. He reciprocated Steve's hug. Steve brushed his lips on Severus' forehead before letting him go.

Yesmina and Angel were hugging; DeWard and Dawn had never stopped. Free turned to Steve, gave him a hug and a kiss, and then did the same with Severus.

Steve went to give Azalea a hug, but she held up her hand in front of her to stop him.

"That okay!" she stated. "You don't have to."

Steve shrugged, smiling, but then before Azalea could see what he was doing, he quickly bent over and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"You crazy!" she exclaimed, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand.

"Hey, kids!" someone was calling. "Kids! You hungry?"

They turned to look at who was calling them, and saw a very sweaty Benjie and his friend Chris returning from a trip to distribute the Hog Farm breakfast to people.

"Come on!" Benjie exclaimed, gesturing for them to come over. "We'll get you something!"

Azalea led the way, and when they joined Benjie and Chris, the two men led them into the Hog Farm kitchen area.

"You have your choice of cooked oatmeal with peanuts, or this granola stuff they're mixing," Chris explained.

Azalea did not look happy with either choice.

"What the hell's "granola"?" she demanded.

"It's this sorta cereal thing they're mixing up," Benjie explained. "It's oatmeal and wheat germ and nuts and raisins and stuff. You eat it dry. Well, I guess you could have it with milk, but there isn't any milk, so you gotta eat it dry."

"I've had granola," Free stated. "There's, like, this natural foods place my old lady shops at, they sell that stuff. It's pretty good, man."

So based on Free's recommendation, they all decided to accept Dixie Cups of granola.

"Annie's looking really tired," Yesmina told Benjie when he handed a cup of granola to her.

"She still layin' down in the minibus?" Benjie asked her. Yesmina nodded.

"I'll stop by and look in on her later," Benjie stated. "Maybe bring her some granola..."

With that, he was off to bring food to thousands of strangers. Yesmina wrinkled her nose.

"He should be with Annie!" she exclaimed. Severus looked at her in surprise. Yesmina rarely criticized anyone, and never with the vehemence she had just shown.

"Do you think something's wrong with Annie?" he asked her. "She said she was just tired."

"She's going to have a baby," Free observed.

"Not yet," Azalea answered, not pausing in eating her granola, which she had been surprised to find was actually good to eat. "She not due for seven, eight weeks..."

"I wouldn't be so sure, man," Free mused. Yesmina looked even more concerned.

"I think we should stay by Annie today," she observed. "Just to make sure she's okay."

Azalea grimaced.

"Okay, we go back and be bored all day keepin' Annie company!" Azalea stated between mouthfuls of granola. "But not before we wash up!"

This seemed to be alright with everyone except Yesmina, who still looked nervous.

Azalea stood up, pouring the rest of her granola into her mouth.

"Let's go!" she instructed, turning and leading the way to the lake.

Everyone else gradually got to their feet, and slowly followed Azalea.

"Tell me again why we do everything she says?" Steve asked Angel.

"It's just easier that way," Angel shrugged.

"Do you think that Annie's going to be okay?" Severus whispered to Yesmina. She looked down at the ground, a troubled look on her face, and then looked over her shoulder as she kept pace with Severus.

"I don't know," she admitted, turning back around. "I just have...well, it's a feeling. That something isn't right. Maybe she just worked too hard the past couple of days. Maybe she just ate something that upset her stomach. But I don't feel right leaving her alone..."

"We'll be quick at the lake," Severus decided. "And then head back, no matter what Azalea says."

Yesmina nodded, but she still looked worried.

But at that moment, Free's parents arrived to help at the Hog Farm kitchen. Free went over to them and said something that caused them to turn direction and head towards Annie in the minibus.

Free rejoined Severus and Yesmina.

"I told my old lady and man about Annie," she stated. "They're going to keep an eye on her."

"Thank you, Free!" Yesmina gushed. "I really think someone should be with her..."

By the time they got to the lake, the sun was mostly hidden behind a thick blanket of haze, but it wasn't quite cloudy as such.

The lack of sun hadn't stopped people from going into the lake; there had to be hundreds in it this morning. Most of whom were naked.

Perhaps because she now was prepared for such a scene, Azalea only snorted in contempt before throwing her bags down to the ground.

"I s'pose y'all takin' all you clothes off, too!" she exclaimed.

As if in answer, Steve, Dawn, and Free immediately stripped naked and went running into the water. DeWard paused, watching them, and then sat down and took off all his own clothes and sandals and ran to join the others...

Angel didn't say a word, just slowly took off all of his clothes and slowly entered the water to join the others.

Yesmina was looking at the ground again, her face turning pink. Azalea just stood with her hands on her hips staring at Angel, mouth open but not saying a word. She then turned violently to Severus.

"I suppose _you_ doin' it, too!" she demanded. Severus hadn't thought about it before she had asked, but yes, he wanted to take off all of his clothes and join the others.

This made him laugh, remembering how embarrassed he was the other day to even take his shirt off in front of the others. Now he was embarrassed to keep his clothes on.

"What so funny, asshole!?" Azalea demanded.

"You are, Azalea," Severus answered. "And beautiful. You are funny and beautiful at the same time, and what is so funny is that you can't see it. You are funny and beautiful and blind! You cannot see the things that are really important!"

Azalea again stood silent, her mouth open. Yesmina looked up from the ground to look at Severus cryptically.

"To answer your question," Severus continued, "yes, I am going to take off my clothes. All of them. Moreover, so should you. You have nothing to be ashamed of, Azalea, and if you are concerned about people looking at you and judging you well, if you keep any clothes on, _you_ are the one who will be the odd one. If you notice, _no one_ in the lake has any clothes on!"

Azalea looked out at the people in the lake, and then turned back to Severus.

"I also notice there be no black folk out there, either!" she announced, pouting. Severus looked out at everyone in the lake. Azalea was correct in that respect.

He looked back at Azalea, then took off his smock and stepped up to her, holding his arm out next to hers. With his tan, they were both now of a similar color.

"Angel said I'm now a 'bro', if only until my tan fades," Severus told her. "So you won't be alone out there."

Azalea's eyes softened and Severus thought she might actually cry. But then she laughed sardonically.

"You better not laugh at me!" she warned. Severus scowled.

"Why would I do that?" he asked. "If I do laugh, it will because I will be amazed at how beautiful you are!"

Azalea looked at Yesmina.

"What about you?" she asked.

Yesmina looked at the sky, then back at Azalea and Severus.

"I'd like to be like the others," she said softly. "I think I could risk it today, because the sun's not out. But I better not stay long. I've burned before on days like today, because it's easy to forget..."

The three of them just stood there, no one moving. After about half a minute, Severus shrugged and started to take off his clothes.

"I'm going in," he stated. Azalea and Yesmina looked at each other, and then slowly started to take off their clothes.

When Severus turned around from folding his clothes, Azalea and Yesmina had taken off their clothes. Azalea stood with her arms crossed over her breasts.

"Don't stare at me!" Azalea admonished him. However, Severus couldn't help himself.

Not only because Azalea was indeed beautiful. But her body was different from what Severus expected. Not that he knew what to expect, when he thought about it.

Next to Yesmina, Azalea had more curves. She had breasts, while Yesmina did not. Azalea's hips were more rounded. In addition, she had hair between her thighs, where they met her torso. Yesmina didn't. Neither did Free or Dawn.

Azalea grabbed a towel from her bag and wrapped it around herself. She gave another towel to Yesmina, and then took a bar of soap out.

"All set?" Severus asked softly, and then walked past Azalea towards the water, trying not to look at her too much.

At the water's edge, the two girls dropped their towels and quickly plunged into the water. Azalea immediately began washing herself, including her hair, and then passed the bar of soap to Yesmina, who did the same.

Severus then washed himself when she was done. By this time, the others had come over, and each took their turn washing with Azalea's soap.

This activity caught the attention of many others who were in the lake, and soon they had a line of naked people wading over. Azalea needn't have worried that these people would stare at her, what became their object of lust and envy was her bar of Jamaican castile and olive oil soap.

When the precious bar had made its final round, all she got back was a thin sliver that she threw into the lake in disgust.

"Well," Severus observed, "they didn't stare at you. And they _are_ now all clean."

Azalea surprisingly laughed, then slapped Severus on his back.

"Let's go!" she announced, wading out of the water and grabbing her towel, again wrapping it around herself before going back to where she had left her clothes. Yesmina had already left the water, and was finishing putting on the skirt and peasant blouse Azalea had packed for her.

Azalea pulled a dashiki out of her own bag and quickly slipped it on. Unlike Free's ankle-length dashiki, Azalea's only went just below her knees...

She put her underwear on underneath the dashiki, and then slipped her arms through the sleeves. She then became aware of Severus, who was just standing there, watching.

"Okay, we know you look fine!" she exclaimed, throwing her towel at Severus, who caught it. "Don't he look dark and fine, Mina?"

Azalea winked at Yesmina, who blushed and looked away.

"But he don't need to go struttin' his fine, dark stuff for us, do he?" Azalea laughed. Severus blushed.

"I don't strut!" he protested, using the towel to dry himself, then stopping and looking up. "At least, I don't think that I do!"

He looked from Azalea, who just laughed, to Yesmina, who smiled and shook her head, looking away again.

He threw the towel back at Azalea.

"I _don't_ strut!" he repeated, putting on his clothes. He decided not to tuck his smock into his pants.

By this time the others had rejoined them, getting dressed quickly as the sky was getting greyer. Azalea was putting the same liquid on her hair that she had used the other day, the hair lotion that Severus had made her that turned her hair from bushy to silky. After brushing it out, she tied a scarf around her head, tying it in a knot over her ear.

Yesmina retrieved a long thin scarf and tied it around her forehead as a headband. She then held out a similar scarf, inspected it, and then looked at Severus. Without a word, she went over to him and wrapped the scarf around his waist as a belt, tied it in a knot on his side, and then pulled the top of his smock up slightly so that it puffed out over the scarf.

She inspected her handiwork with satisfaction, and then turned to Azalea, who looked at Severus with raised eyebrows.

"Doesn't he look...dashing?" Yesmina asked her, laughing. "Like a pirate!"

"He can't be no pirate!" Azalea laughed, getting to her feet. "Pirates strut! Severus tell us he _never_ strut!"

Yesmina chuckled, and then turned pensive.

"We really should check in on Annie," she stated.

Azalea shrugged and looked at the sky. There really wasn't much to do until the concert resumed later that afternoon, and it _did_ look like it was going to start raining again.

When they got back to the minibus, the rain had started. However, the vehicle was empty.

Azalea went into the VW, sat on a quilt, and started to braid her hair. DeWard and Dawn climbed in with her, but everyone else stood outside in the rain, wondering what to do.

"You all goin' to stand around, get wet?" Azalea demanded.

"Where's Annie?" Severus asked.

"Who know?" Azalea answered. "Maybe she go help at that Hog Farm place!"

"She was in labor, man, so I don't think she'd, like do that," Free mused... Everyone, including Azalea, stared at Free.

"You crazy!" Azalea decided, but there was a slight hint of fear in her voice. "She not due 'til mid-October!"

"Are you sure, Free?" Yesmina anxiously demanded. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I'm not _completely_ sure, man," Free admitted. "But my old lady's a midwife assistant, I've seen this before. When I told her earlier what Annie was feeling, she said it sounded like she started labor..."

"Why didn't you say something to us?" Severus asked. Free shrugged.

"Like, what could any of _us_ have done, man?"

Severus thought about it, and realized that Free had a point.

"But where is she now?" Steve asked. As if in answer, they heard a woman's scream coming from the direction of the Hog Farm kitchen.

"Sounds like they moved her over there," Free answered, and started to walk in that direction, with Yesmina right behind her. Steve, Angel, and Severus looked at each other, and then turned to Azalea, Dawn, and DeWard inside the VW.

"You coming?" Steve asked his sister. She gave a questioning look at DeWard, then slipped out of the minibus and stood by her brother. DeWard hesitated, and then joined her.

Azalea kept braiding her hair.

"What about you?" Angel demanded.

"She not due 'til October!" Azalea repeated, but another scream from the Hog Farm kitchen seemed to put that fact into question.

"She may be having a miscarriage," Steve said softly. Both Angel and Severus stared at him.

"If she really is in labor this early, it could be due to a miscarriage," he stated. He looked at Azalea, as did Severus. Angel's look for her was one of contempt.

"_Okay!_" she shouted, sighing as she slid out of the minibus. "If she _is_ having a miscarriage, don't know what any of _us_ can do about it, but let's go and stare at her anyways!"

She stormed off in the direction of the Hog Farm tent, the boys following her.

They spotted DeWard standing in the entrance to the tent, looking confused and scared and trying not to get in the way of people who were coming and going. He looked relieved to see Angel and the others.

"I don't know what's goin' on," he explained. "Dawn and Yesmina and Free are in there with Annie and some other people, they say Annie's having her baby!"

Azalea still didn't look convinced that was indeed the case, but she just stood there, hands on her hips, and didn't make any move to go inside.

Steve on the other hand pushed DeWard to the side and quickly went in. Angel and Severus looked at each other, not sure what to do, then curiosity got the better of them and they tentatively stepped inside the entrance...

It was actually fairly dark because they were at the back of the tent where there was no entrance except for the door. A few battery and kerosene lamps provided pools of light.

Annie was lying on a makeshift cot, the upper part of her body propped up with blankets and bags of oatmeal. A group of people were helping her, including Free's parents.

Yesmina was kneeling by the cot, holding Annie's hand. Free was standing serenely a few feet away, with an equally serene Dawn by her side.

"It would, like, help if you walked around a bit," Free's mother was saying.

"_FUCK THAT!_" Annie screamed. And then she just screamed.

Yesmina looked at Severus with pleading eyes, but he had no idea what he could do to help.

"Is there anything I can do?" Steve offered. The adults looked at him in surprise.

"Have you ever delivered a baby, son?" Free's father asked, grinning. Steve looked embarrassed, blushing slightly.

"Not really," he admitted. "I did sorta help when Barbara on our farm had a baby last year, and I've helped my dad with birthing calves..."

This statement seemed to actually impress Free's parents, but Yesmina looked at him in alarm. Annie gave a tired laugh.

"I _feel_ like it's fuckin' _calf_ in here!" she screamed. Then she grunted, squeezing Yesmina's hand so hard that she winced, but didn't say anything.

Steve whispered something in Dawn's ear that the others couldn't hear. She nodded, and then ran out of the tent.

"Shouldn't they be bringin' her to the medical tent," a hoarse whisper asked behind Angel and Severus. They turned and saw Azalea poking her head through the doorway.

"Does she _look_ like she can make it to the medical tent?" Severus asked, turning back to look at Annie, who had a grimace on her face.

"She need a _doctor_!" Azalea exclaimed, a slight whine to her voice.

"She can maybe walk a few steps," Free stated, not turning to look at Azalea. "She probably _should_, it would help with the labor. But she can't walk to the medical tent. They said they had a nurse here earlier, but she said that there's nothing she can do that my old lady's not already doing..."

Free turned to look at them.

"And she said that they can't get Annie out because the roads are closed, and the helicopters aren't flying because of the storm...so she's going to have to give birth here..."

She turned back to watch.

"My old lady says it's going to be hours..."

Azalea made what sounded like a whimpering sound and ducked back outside.

"Me and DeWard's going back to the minibus!" she called out.

A sadness enveloped Severus' heart. He was very disappointed in Azalea.

"_Hours?_" Angel asked Free. "How many hours?"

Free shrugged.

"My old lady's helped out where women went on for two days in labor," Free answered. "And then some others only go for an hour or two. It depends. But my old lady said that Annie's baby probably won't come until later tonight or tomorrow morning..."

Severus and Angel stood there with their mouths open. Hours? How could Annie stand it? How would they?

"Is she going to be alright?" Severus asked. "And the baby, is _it_ going to be alright, too?

Free just shrugged.

"Don't know," she answered softly. "It _is_ seven weeks early..."

Benjie came running in from the front of the tent and knelt down besides his wife.

"There's nothin' goin' in or out of here, honey!" he exclaimed, taking her other hand. "I tried to find anything, but the roads are closed and there's nothing flyin'!"

"See?" Free whispered. "She's having her baby right here..."

Severus had never felt so helpless in his life. He felt that there should be something he could do, but he had no idea what.

At that moment, Dawn returned through the front of the tent, with a couple of adults accompanying her. When Steve saw them, he said, "Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!"

"Howdy, there!" one of the men said. "So what's going on?"

Annie glared at him. Benjie stood up and shook the man's hand.

"Hi, I'm Benjie, we're having a baby," he explained.

"Tom, this is my wife Janet, and these are Patrick and Linda from our farm," Steve's father explained. "Our daughter says you might need a little help here..."

"Most of us give birth on the farm," Janet explained, "so we're fairly experienced in home births."

"Great!" Free's mother exclaimed, standing up and coming over, shaking Janet's hand. "I'm Nierika, and this is my husband Isaac -- we're apprentice midwives."

She rubbed her hands together.

"So, like, let's get this baby thing going!" she laughed.

They forced Annie to get to her feet and supported her as they walked her around the tent. Benjie stood to the side, and then Severus noticed he was no longer there.

Linda brought the boys to the front of the tent, and put them to work boiling water.

"Why are we boiling water?" Angel asked.

"I dunno," Steve answered. "They always have us kids boil water at home when there's a birth. I don't think they ever use it, I think it's just something for us to do to keep us outta the way..."

Angel looked perfectly satisfied to have been put out of the way, but Severus stated, "Well, I am going to make Annie a cup of tea!"

He put a kettle on to boil, and then found a cup, measured some herbs from his satchel into the tea ball he carried in it, and then poured the boiling water over it to steep.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Hog Farm was busy preparing a meal that consisted of a type of spaghetti sauce, and quite a bit of broccoli.

When the tea that Severus had made had steeped, and then sufficiently cooled, he brought it into Annie, who was now lying down with her knees up and legs spread apart, with Nierika, Janet, and Linda looking intently between her legs.

Isaac and Patrick were supporting Annie by her shoulders so that she could sit up. Tom and Dawn were ripping what looked to be sheets into strips...

Yesmina was holding Annie's hand again, and Free was sitting next to her, placidly watching the whole scene.

"You got a ways to go, hon," Janet told Annie.

"_Arrrrggggghhhhhh!!_" was the only response she made.

Severus went up to Annie, and offered her the cup of tea.

"I made this for you," he stated. Annie just looked at the cup.

"That's, like, a great idea, man!" Nierika exclaimed. She looked at Annie. "You should drink it; you don't want to become dehydrated."

Annie took the cup from Severus with a look of appreciation.

"Thanks, Sev," she said weakly. She took a few sips, and looked up to him in surprise.

"I feel a lot better!" she exclaimed.

"It is meant to give you strength," Severus explained. "And endurance. It helps with pain, too..."

Annie took another sip. She definitely looked more relaxed.

Severus found a small crate nearby and sat on it, waiting for Annie to finish the tea. While Angel and Steve may have been at a loss for a function to do at this time, Severus knew what he had to do today.

Hours went by. On his periodic trips back to the front of the tent to make some more tea, Severus at first found Angel and Steve boiling the strips of sheets that Steve's father had given them. Later, he found them helping out the kitchen staff. Most times Severus found Angel grumbling about Azalea.

"If she didn't want to help Annie," he was saying one time, "she at least could be up here helping us!"

Severus was also curious as to why Azalea did _not_ seem curious about the impending birth of Annie and Benjie's child. And so he was also disappointed with her.

But then again, both DeWard and now Dawn were absent from the scene too, so Severus assumed that Azalea was looking after them.

They could hear the microphone on stage crackle as the concert was set to resume. Someone was making announcements.

_"...there's a warning about the brown acid that is circulating, that it is specifically no good,_" they heard the announcer stating. "_Of course, it's your own trip, so be my guest! Just wanted to pass that warning on to you..._"

Angel and Severus stared at each other.

"You think...?" Angel whispered to him. Severus shrugged.

"It was fine when you and I had it," he answered, but Angel wasn't convinced.

"Yeah, but it was _clear_ when we got it on us!" he whispered hoarsely, leaning in closer to Severus. "I remember seeing it turn _brown_ when you put something in it!"

"Did I?" Severus asked. "Or did you just dream it?"

Angel quickly stood up straight and stared at Severus warily.

"All I am saying," Severus added, "is that neither of us can be _sure_ anything happened to that stuff, or that what they're talking about is the same thing we made..."

Angel still had a look of consternation.

"Listen," Severus continued. "Even if it _is_ the same stuff we were working on yesterday, what can _we_ do about it? It sounds like those guys decided to 'distribute' it anyway..."

"But if it's bad acid, man, _you_ are responsible!" Angel whispered. "There could be people permanently crazy cuz of _you_!"

Severus stared at him, showing no emotion.

"You are jumping to a conclusion that you in fact have no basis to make," he said coolly. Angel had never seen this side of Severus' personality, and was taken aback.

"First off, you do _not_ know for a fact that what they just spoke of has _anything_ to do with either of us!" Severus continued icily. "Second, even if it _is_ the same acid you and I worked on yesterday, you don't know for a fact that I indeed did _anything_ to it...don't interrupt!"

Angel had indeed been about to interrupt Severus, but closed his mouth.

"You _don't_ know for a _fact_ that I did anything to it!" Severus continued. "_I _don't know for a fact that I did anything to it. Neither of us know for a fact _anything_ we did yesterday, do we?"

Angel's face reflected the confusion he was experiencing, which wasn't lost on Severus.

"You know that I am correct!" he exclaimed. "Maybe I _did_ add something to the acid, maybe I didn't. I don't know, and _neither do you_! And even if I did, and even if what they are now talking about is the same thing, neither you or I have any idea what those guys may have done to it after we left!"

Angel looked close to tears.

"But don't you _care_, Severus? Don't you feel _guilty_?"

It was now Severus' turn to be brought up short.

"Guilty?" he asked, then after a few moments thought he stated, "No. I don't feel guilty. I wasn't the one who accepted those guys offer. I wasn't the one who knew fully well what it was they wanted us to do. Anything I may -- I'm only saying _may_ -- have done to it was done under it's influence. I didn't _knowingly_ alter it!"

Angel looked like he had been hit with a bucket of ice.

"If anyone should be feeling guilty, it is you!" Severus continued. "_You_ were the one who got us into it! Feel guilty all you want, if it makes you feel any better. But don't try to make _me_ feel guilty, too!"

The concert had started.

_Woman of the country  
Now I've found you  
Longing in your soft  
And fertile delta. _

And I whisper sighs  
To satisfy your longing  
For the warmth and  
Tender shelter of my body. 

"I am going to find Azalea!" Severus stated, turning and leaving Angel, who had a tear rolling down one cheek.

"What's wrong?" Severus could hear Steve asking Angel.

In the back, Annie was screaming in time with the singing from the stage.

_Oh you're my  
Yes you're my, Delta Lady!_

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhgggghhhh!" 

Severus just glanced at the others, and stormed out into the storm outside.

_And I'm over here in England  
But I think of you, think about you  
Because I love you_

Severus thought of Lily, and had the strongest pangs of homesickness since he'd come to America. He forced those feelings to recede. It would not accomplish anything to give into, and wallow, in misery.

Yesterday he had felt so connected to the world; today, he felt so alone.

_There are concrete  
Mountains in the city  
And pretty city women  
Live inside them. _

And yet it seems  
The city scene is lacking  
I'm so glad you're waiting  
For me in the country 

A strong desire welled up inside him where the despair had just been. He needed to find Azalea. He _had_ to find Azalea.

But no one was back at the minibus. No one was at the Free Kitchen, either.

_What would you think  
If I sang out of tune?  
Would you stand up and  
Walk out on me?  
Lend me you ears and  
I'll sing you a song  
And I'll try not to sing out of key. _

Oh, I get by  
With a little help from my friends. 

Severus wondered where Azalea could have gone, and decided that she probably would have taken DeWard and Dawn back to their area by the side of the stage when the concert began. He started to walk in that direction.

_What do I do when my love is away?  
(Does it worry you to be alone?)  
How do I feel by the end of the day?  
(Are you sad because you're on your own?) _

No, I get by with a little help from my friends. 

It was not easy getting to the stage. The ground was quite muddy, and not getting any better due to the rain.

Severus found his way blocked by a group of decidedly muddy men, who seemed to find their state of muddiness quite amusing.

But then Severus heard a familiar voice screaming in front of him. He couldn't see what was going on, because there were so many muddy men in front of him.

But it was definitely Azalea, screaming hysterically. And then he heard DeWard's voice screaming "Stop it! Leave her alone! Stop it!"

Severus' heart plummeted into his stomach. He frantically tried to push his way through the crowd of people, as Azalea continued to scream.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.  
I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.  
I get high with a little help from my friends.  
Yeah, I'll get by with a little help from my friends.  
With a little help from my friends...

* * *

_

* * *

_

Woman of the country  
Now I've found you  
Longing in your soft  
And fertile delta.

And I whisper sighs  
To satisfy your longing  
For the warmth and  
Tender shelter of my body.

CHORUS:  
Oh you're my  
Yes you're my, Delta Lady!  
Yes, you're my  
Me oh my, Delta Lady!

Please don't ask  
How many times  
I found you standing wet  
And naked in the garden.

And I think of days  
And diff'rent ways  
I held you, held you closely to me  
Yes our heart was beating.

(chorus)

And I'm over here in England  
But I think of you, think about you  
Because I love you

There are concrete  
Mountains in the city  
And pretty city women  
Live inside them.

And yet it seems  
The city scene is lacking  
I'm so glad you're waiting  
For me in the country

(chorus) 

DELTA LADY  
Joe Cocker  
Woodstock - August 17, 1969  
_

* * *

_

What would you think if I sang out of tune?  
Would you stand up and walk out on me?  
Lend me you ears and I'll sing you a song  
And I'll try not to sing out of key.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.  
(He gets by with a little help from his friends.)  
Oh, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

What do I do when my love is away?  
(Does it worry you to be alone?)  
How do I feel by the end of the day?  
(Are you sad because you're on your own?)

No, I get by with a little help from my friends.  
Mmm, I get high with a little help from my friends.  
Mmm, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

(Do you need anybody?)  
I need somebody to love.  
(Could it be anybody?)  
I want somebody to love.

(Would you believe in love at first sight?)  
Yes, I'm certain that it happens all the time.  
(What do you see when you turn out the light?)  
I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.  
Mmm, I get high with a little help from my friends.  
Oh, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

(Do you need anybody?)  
I need someone to love.  
(Could it be anybody?)  
I want somebody to love.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.  
I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.  
I get high with a little help from my friends.  
Yeah, I'll get by with a little help from my friends.  
With a little help from my friends... 

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS  
Joe Cocker  
Woodstock - August 17, 1969 


	13. Chap 11 Bluebird Revisited Aug18'69

* * *

* * *

_Sunday, August 17 - Monday, August 18, 1969_

* * *

* * *

Severus broke through the crowd of muddy people just in time to see a particularly muddy young man holding Azalea in his arms, and then throwing her into what could only be described as a pit of mud.

Other people were running and throwing themselves into the mud pit, and a couple of other young women also got thrown in, screaming in delight.

Azalea was not delighted.

She crawled crying hysterically out of the mud, covered in it. The young man who had thrown her into the pit looked upset.

"I thought she wanted to play, too!" he objected, when a barely recognizable mud-covered DeWard started to punch his thighs.

Severus' first thought was to grab his wand and cast some sort of painful curse on the man, but he didn't really know if he would be able to create magick on that level. Moreover, the man _did_ seem upset over Azalea's hysterics, and attempted to help her to her feet.

However, she was too upset and instead tried to push him away, which unfortunately resulted in her slipping on the mud and falling into it again with a splash.

Her reaction frightened Severus. She just cried all the harder, but this time she didn't even try to get up. If anything, it looked like she was trying to dig deeper into the mud.

She clawed and dug into it, thrashing her legs so that mud splattered everywhere. She was face down in the mud, and Severus thought she was going to drown.

He pushed his way through the rest of the crowd and into the mud, kneeling down by Azalea at the same time that DeWard knelt down on her other side. Severus cupped her chin and lifted her face out of the mud.

"Azalea!" he called to her softly. "It's okay! Everything will be alright!"

But it was as if she did not recognize him indeed, as if she could not even hear him. She continued to weep hysterically and pull at her muddy hair.

Severus glanced at DeWard. He could see that the boy had tears streaking down his face, but he was also in control of himself.

"Help me get her to her feet!" Severus instructed him. DeWard nodded, and they each grabbed Azalea by the arm and lifted her to a sitting position.

She was still hysterical and still clawing at her face and hair. A few of the others who were standing around came to their assistance, and Azalea finally stood up, crying and hysterically trying to wipe the mud off her body.

Severus grabbed her firmly by the wrists and held them, looking directly into her eyes.

"Azalea!" he shouted over the thunder. "It's me! Severus! _LOOK AT ME!_"

Azalea looked at him, but there was no flicker of recognition.

"It's me!" Severus continued. "Severus! You know who I am!"

He squeezed her wrists, and he saw a light of recognition in her eyes.

"Sev?" she whimpered. "Sev?"

Severus nodded, not breaking eye contact.

"They made me all dirty!" she whimpered, sounding like a little girl. She started to wipe at her arms and then her dashiki, but only succeeded in wiping the mud more into her clothes.

This brought on a new wave of tears. Azalea crumpled to the ground, pulling her knees up to her chin and burying her face in her hands. Severus sat in the mud beside her. DeWard stood helplessly to the side, and Severus could now see a muddy Dawn cowering in the crowd.

"It's only dirt, Azalea," Severus comforted her. "It'll wash out!"

"It's mud! It's mud! It's mud!" Azalea gasped hysterically. "Mud, mud, mud, mud, mud!"

She ran her muddy fingers through her muddy hair, and then wiped her muddy hands on her muddy face.

"It'll wash off, Azalea!" Severus repeated, at a loss for why Azalea should be so upset, and not knowing what else to say.

"You don't know!" she gasped, with a wild-eyed look that frightened Severus. "You don't know! You don't know!"

"What don't I know, Azalea?" Severus asked. "Tell me!"

"You don't know!" she repeated, looking back and forth. Her gaze stopped on DeWard.

"DeWard, _he_ know!" Azalea whispered hoarsely. Severus glanced up at DeWard, who returned his gaze with a questioning shrug. This caused Azalea to burst forth with a new wave of tears.

"Azalea," Severus told her softly, putting his arm around her. "Please don't cry. Everything will be okay. You can go to the lake and wash..."

However, since the thunder and lightening had picked up, Severus wasn't sure it was the best idea at the moment.

"_You_ don't know!" Azalea repeated. Severus tried not to show his frustration.

Azalea looked at him, her mud-smeared face streaked by tears.

"_You_ not a mud person!" she finally spat out.

Severus had no idea to what Azalea was referring. He again glanced at DeWard, who again just shrugged.

Severus reached down and grabbed a large handful of mud, and proceeded to smear it on his arm. He repeated it with the other arm.

This procedure at least had the effect of causing Azalea to stop crying. She stared at Severus, her mouth open in disbelief.

But when Severus started to smear mud on his own face, Azalea grabbed his wrists, screaming, "_STOP IT! STOP IT!_"

"Why?" Severus grinned. "Now I'm a mud person, too!"

"_NO!_" Azalea screamed, wiping at his face. "_No, no, no, no, no!_"

However, Severus just grabbed some more mud, and proceeded to slap it on his head, working it into his hair.

"_YOU STOP THAT!_" Azalea screamed, trying to use her fingers to comb the mud out of Severus' hair. "Don't do that! Don't do that!"

"Now we're both, what was that term you used, mud people?" Severus grinned at her.

"No, no, no, Sev!" Azalea whispered hoarsely. "It not _that_ type of mud!"

She started crying again. She sounded ashamed.

The storm was worsening, and the crowd had thinned out. The rain was actually helping to wash a good amount of the mud off all of them.

"Come on," Severus announced, getting to his feet and offering Azalea his hand. "Let's get to the lake before this storm gets even worse!"

She looked up at Severus, and he was glad to see a weak smile on her lips. She took his hand without a word and got to her feet. They made their way to the lake, Azalea still crying softly, Dawn carrying Azalea's now very wet and muddy handbag.

Azalea hesitated at the water's edge.

"It's dangerous to go in water in a thunderstorm," she whimpered.

"Let's just do a quick dip with our clothes on," Severus suggested. "Just enough to get the mud off."

"Our clothes get wet," Azalea quietly observed.

"Azalea!" Severus exclaimed. "We're _already_ wet!"

There was a roll of thunder, followed soon after by a flash of lightening. Severus was nervous about going into the water, but he decided he should make the first move.

He lay down his satchel by the water's edge, and went into the lake up to his thighs and then knelt down so that he could put his head under the water. The others soon followed.

They did not spend enough time to give themselves a good scrubbing, but they succeeded in getting the mud off their bodies and out of their hair.

Their clothes were another matter. Severus, not having wallowed in the pit, had the cleanest clothes, but the three others were not going to get their clothes clean without a proper washing.

DeWard and Dawn seemed content, but Azalea was obviously ashamed that what she was wearing was so dirty as she kept rubbing her dashiki.

Severus took her by the hand, and led her through the rain back to the area of their minibus. Severus stopped outside of the Hog Farm kitchen.

"They have some hot food in there," he told them. "Perhaps we should go in to dry off and eat something."

DeWard and Dawn didn't need any further prompting, but Azalea refused to budge.

"I can't let anyone see me this way!" she whined, bowing her head and tracing a pattern in the mud with the toe of her sandal. "I...I'm too ashamed!"

"Azalea!" Severus exclaimed, taking her hand again. "Why? Because you got a little mud on your dress?"

This just caused Azalea to start crying again.

"Let's go back to the minibus, then," Severus suggested, caressing her arm. "Hopefully they'll be some dry clothes we can find!"

He looked up at the sky as the rain continued to pour down, and then back at Azalea, not letting go of her hand.

"Although if we just stand here," he observed, "we'll be sure to get clean!"

Azalea laughed at the statement, and then added, "Yeah, but we probably get hit by lightning first!"

Severus smiled and nodded, and then led her to the minibus.

The rain was still a downpour, and Azalea decided to take advantage of it to grab a bar of her castile and olive oil soap and quickly wash herself and her hair. She even insisted on washing Severus' hair.

When she had finished, and they were climbing back into the minibus, DeWard came running up carrying two bowls. He crawled into the minibus and handed a bowl to Severus and Azalea each.

"Thought you might like something to eat," he explained, fishing into a pocket and pulling out two sporks, which he handed to the others.

"It's not bad," he added, pulling two cartons of juice from other pockets, and handing them over. "It's broccoli, but the sauce is pretty good, and it's hot."

Azalea just stared at her bowl, and then put it down without a word and leaned over, gave DeWard a big hug, and kissed him on his forehead.

"DeWard always be my man!" she whispered in his ear, before sitting up. In the fading light, it was hard to tell, but if DeWard could blush, Severus would have sworn that he was doing it at that moment.

DeWard smiled nervously.

"I'm going back there...it's warmer," he told them.

"How's Annie?" Severus inquired.

"She still hasn't had the baby," DeWard answered. "But they're saying it may be soon..."

With that, he slipped out of the minibus, closing the door behind him.

Azalea was eating her food in silence, not looking up from her bowl. Severus tried to look into her eyes.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked her.

"Need to get outta these wet clothes," she answered. "Do that after I eat..."

Severus ate a few mouthfuls from his own bowl. It was obvious that Azalea was still upset.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Azalea," he ventured. "Getting muddy isn't shameful, and it's not even like you were _trying_ to get muddy..."

Severus stopped when he saw tears forming in Azalea's eyes again. She sobbed, and placed her bowl on the floor besides her. Then she looked directly at Severus.

"When I was little," she stated quietly, "back when I lived down south, there's these people what call people like me "mud people"..."

Severus didn't say a word, but he wasn't sure he quite understood what Azalea was saying.

"It's an insult," she continued. "They say the Bible say black folk like me are mud people, that we're not part of God's plan..."

Severus' eyes narrowed. "I don't understand," he admitted.

Azalea clasped her knees and stared at the minibus' floor.

"It have something to do with Adam being white, they say black folk not part of the Garden of Eden, that we come out of the mud outside, that make us mud people who don't have no souls..."

She looked up at Severus.

"They say that's why we never be as good as white folk, cuz we're damned cuz of that..."

"That's stupid," Severus answered. Azalea chuckled sadly.

"It _is_, really," she agreed. "Cuz the Bible, it also says God made Adam outta clay, that's a kind of mud, isn't it?"

She grabbed her bowl and resumed eating, but paused after a few mouthfuls.

"There be these white kids," she stated, "back when I was little. Down south. They call us 'mud people' all the time. Sometime they grab me and throw me in the swamp where it muddy..."

A darkness filled her eyes.

"Sometimes they pushed my face into it, where there were nasty things! They tell me they keep me there 'til the gators come eat me!"

Her voice cracked.

"And sometimes they..."

But she did not finish the sentence. She finished eating, and then gulped down some juice.

"That was..._is_...a terrible thing to do," Severus quietly stated, and then paused.

"There's something similar where I come from," he confessed. Azalea quickly glanced up in surprise.

"It's a similar insult," Severus continued. "It's the word '_mudblood_'..."

Azalea didn't say anything, just looked at Severus curiously.

"It doesn't have anything to do with the Bible," he explained. "It's more...it's hard to explain..."

He searched in his mind for the right words.

"It's an insult that those who are, um, like me, use against those who aren't like us," he stated. "It's sort of an aristocratic thing, I suppose. It means someone who isn't pureblood...pureblood is supposedly clean blood, anything else is dirty blood..."

He looked up at Azalea.

"That sound like fancy dogs!" she exclaimed in disgust. "Or horses! That what they do with animals, breed them with their own kind to keep them pure blood!"

"Yes, it _is_ rather like that, now that you put it that way!" Severus laughed. "And it is as stupid as your 'mud person' thing, because my friend Lily back home comes from a non-pureblood family, and she is one of the smartest, most talented wit...women there is!"

A sparkle twinkled in Azalea's eye.

"Oh, so now Lily's a _woman_," she teased. "Just when she become a woman? You help her, Sev?"

Azalea squeezed Severus' foot. Severus was sure he must have been blushing, even though he did not quite understand Azalea's joke.

Azalea tossed their empty bowls into the front seat.

"It's getting cold," she stated. "We need to get some dry clothes."

It indeed got cold at night here, especially when you were wet.

It was almost dark, and the only light was the spotlight from the Hog Farm tent, so they searched for dry clothes more by feel than by sight.

Azalea took off her dashiki, tossing it in the corner, and then took off her bra and laid it over the back of the passenger seat in hopes that it would dry.

Severus was changing his own clothes, but Azalea noticed him looking at her.

"What?" she demanded. "You see me nekked earlier!"

She pulled a peasant-style dress over her head, and then pulled off her wet and muddied panties and put on dry ones.

"You're so pretty," Severus confessed. "It's hard _not_ to look at you!"

This stopped Azalea in her tracks. She looked at Severus, searching his face to see if he was teasing her. When she saw that he was not, her own face softened.

She sat down with her back leaning against the back of the passenger seat, and patted the floor besides her.

"You come over here!" she said softly. Severus moved over and sat facing her, leaning someone's duffle bag.

"Thank you, Sev," she whispered, reaching out and taking his hand. "You're my hero! Last night you're my baby sister's hero, tonight you be _my_ hero!"

She gave his hand a squeeze, and then turned her head to look out the window.

Severus had the impression that she wanted to say something else. He sat there not saying a word, watching the shadows of the rain on the windows reflected on Azalea's face. They made it hard to tell whether she was crying or not.

"The others tell you about me?" she finally asked. There was a huskiness to her voice that suggested that she indeed had been crying.

"What?" Severus asked, startled by the question. 

Azalea let go of his hand, and clasped her hands in her lap, twiddling her thumbs and biting her lower lip.

"They tell you about me?" she whispered. "What my aunt made me do?"

Severus paused.

"Angel said something about your aunt having men pay money to..."

He was at a loss for words. He was not sure what it was they had paid for.

Azalea still hung her head, but glanced up at Severus.

"You _don't_ know, do you?" she asked, looking sad. "You don't even _understand_ about that, do you?"

She was not angry with him; in fact, there was a softness to her that Severus had rarely seen.

"I...I..." Severus stammered, and then sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "No, I guess that I don't. I know that I didn't understand when Angel told me...I just figured it was something that wasn't nice."

Azalea laughed sardonically.

"Yeah, it ain't nice," she mumbled, looking down at her hands again.

She didn't say anything for a few moments, and then asked, "You know where babies come from, Sev?"

This was one of the last questions Severus expected, and it took him off guard. He had never really thought about it before, but now that he was being forced to think about it, he realized that he really _did not_ know how that happened.

"Well, women give birth, that's how they become mothers," he explained. Azalea interrupted him with a laugh.

"But _how_ do they get babies inside of them in the first place, Sev?" she demanded, staring at him. He did not need to answer; his blank stare revealed that he had no idea.

Azalea sighed, and looked at him with a mixture of pity and love.

"It's sweet you don't know," she admitted, and she sighed again, turning to look out the window.

"Women get babies cuz men put them inside them," she finally stated flatly, and then sighed. "And men put babies inside women by putting..."

Her voice trailed off. She continued to stare out the window.

"What?" Severus whispered.

"They...they put their...their _thing_ in women," Azalea answered, her voice choking.

"Their _what_?" Severus demanded.

Azalea turned to face Severus; tears were streaming down her face again.

"Their..._pee-pee_!" she whispered, pointing at Severus' crotch.

Severus' eyes bulged, and he stared at his own crotch, trying to figure out just what Azalea was trying to describe.

"Where? How?" he sputtered, totally confused.

"They stick it in women," Azalea explained.

"Why?" Severus demanded. This all sounded very strange, and rather disgusting.

"It makes 'em feel good, is why," she answered, again turning away from Severus and staring out the window.

"I..." Severus stammered, but he did not know what else to say.

"It gets hard," Azalea said in a low voice. "Their pee-pee. It get hard sometime. Only thing makes it feel better is to stick it in somethin'!"

"And..." Severus continued to stammer. "And _that_ is what your aunt took money for? To have men do that to you?"

Azalea sobbed, and nodded her head, still not looking at Severus.

"It happened to Mina, Angel too," she sobbed. "Not for money. They was just forced by the people they with at the time..."

Her head turned quickly and her eyes bore into Severus'.

"That's called _'rape'_, Sev!" she exclaimed. "Don't you _ever_ let anyone do that to you!"

Severus just sat there, wide-eyed and speechless. Azalea turned away and resumed looking out the window, periodically biting at her cuticles.

The sounds of the concert drifted through the rain.

_If I ever leave you  
You can say I told you so  
And if I ever hurt you babe  
You know I hurt myself as well _

_Is that any way for a man to carry on?  
D'you think he wants  
His little loved one gone?  
I love you Baby  
More than you'll ever know  
More than you'll ever know_

"I'd _never_ do something like that to anyone!" Severus eventually announced, which caused Azalea to laugh bitterly.

"When you're older, you'll think different," she told him. "You'll like someone, if she likes you, you want to be together. Like your friend Lily..."

"_NO!_" Severus exclaimed, shocked. How could Azalea suggest that he would _ever_ do anything like that, let alone to Lily?

_I'm not tryin' to be  
Any kind of man  
I'm tryin' to be somebody  
You can love, trust, and understand _

_I know that I can be, yeah yeah  
A part of you that no one else could see  
I just gotta hear, to hear you say  
It's all right, yeah, yeah, yeah!_

"I'd never...!" he objected, but Azalea's laugh interrupted him.

"It's different when you care for someone," she explained. "When you love them, then it's okay."

"_Ughhh_!" Severus shuddered. Azalea smiled at him.

"Someday you'll love someone, you'll want to make babies with her," Azalea explained. "Then you'll be thinking different!"

"I'll _never_ make babies!" Severus announced. "That's disgusting!"

An unpleasant thought forced its way into Severus' mind.

"Wait!" he exclaimed. "You aren't saying that my father did _that_ to my mother?"

Azalea looked at him in amusement.

"You _here_, ain't you?" she chuckled. "Your father had to stick it in your mother at least once!"

Severus thought that he just might vomit.

"And that means..." he stammered. "That means Benjie...and Annie...?"

"Yep," Azalea answered. "But that's different. They're married. They love each other. Annie like Benjie doing that to her. And they want a baby..."

There was a catch in her voice, and she fell silent.

Severus again had the feeling that there was something else Azalea wanted to say. He watched her intently, saying nothing.

_If I ever leave you  
You can say I told you so  
And if I ever hurt you baby  
You know I hurt myself as well_

.  
After a few minutes, she seemed to have come to a decision. She turned to Severus and stared intently into his eyes, fighting back the tears in her own.

"Earlier this year..." she started, and then paused, biting her lip and seemingly searching for the right words.

"Early this year I...," she continued, her voice barely above a whisper, "I...got a baby put in me!"

She lowered her eyes in shame. Severus just sat there, not knowing what to say. Azalea raised her eyes back up to his, searching his face intently.

"Azalea..." was all he could manage to choke out.

"_I had a baby in me!_" Azalea hoarsely whispered. clasping her hands over her naval. "Growing in my belly!" She paused.

_"Hey man, I just gotta say, that you people have gotta be the strongest bunch of people I ever saw"_

Severus whispered, "What happened?"

Azalea again lowered her eyes, and many minutes passed before she spoke.

"My aunt said I couldn't keep it," she whispered. "She took me to a place where someone took my baby out..."

_Oh babe, have mercy _

_Don't let the past remind us  
Of what we are not now  
I am not dreaming_

_I am yours, you are mine  
You are what you are  
And you make it hard_

Azalea shuddered and then looked up at Severus, tears again streaming down her face.

"It's legal in New York for _doctors_ to do that!" she cried. "But my aunt, she didn't want to pay for no doctor! She bring me to someone's house, they make me drink this nasty stuff, then they make me lay on the kitchen table and they stick this thing between my legs and they keep stickin' and stickin' and it hurt, it hurt bad and I keep screamin' for them to stop but they don't and they keep stickin' and stickin' until I bleed and don't stop bleedin'..!"

_Something inside  
Is telling me  
That I've got your secret  
Are you still listening?  
Fear is the lock  
And laughter the key to your heart_

Azalea was crying hysterically. Severus wanted to comfort her, but was frozen in his place.

"And they make me bleed so much, I bleed my baby away! _Onto the floor!_" Azalea wailed pathetically, gasping for breath between sobs. "When my baby come out, my aunt make me get up and clean it, flush it down the sink! But I still bleedin', the more I try to clean, the more mess I make...!"

_Can I tell it like it is?  
(Help me, I'm suffering)  
Listen to me baby  
It's my heart that's a-suffering  
(Help me, I'm dying)  
It's a-dying  
That's what I have to lose_

Azalea was crying so hysterically that she could hardly breathe. Severus crawled over to her side and put his arms around her, cradling her head against his chest. This only made Azalea cry harder.

"My legs all bloody!" she sobbed. "They put a pad on me, wipe my legs, tell my aunt and me to go..."

_I've got an answer  
I'm going to fly away  
What have I got to lose?_

Severus stroked her hair.

"But I don't stop bleedin'!" she continued between sobs. "I go through box after box! I start to feel real sick, I thought I die! _I wanted to die!_ I wanted to go find my baby!"

Her body was wracked with sobbing. Severus continued to stroke her hair, fighting back his own tears.

"I got a fever, got real sick," Azalea continued, after she had regained some composure. "My aunt, she had to take me to see a real doctor after all! She lie to them, say I have a boyfriend who 18 year old got me pregnant and took me to an illegal 'bortion!"

Azalea sniffed and sat up, looking directly into Severus' eyes.

_Lacy, lilting, leering  
Ring around the moonlight  
Asking me, said she so free  
How can you catch the sparrow?_

"They give me medicine for infection," she explained. "They also operate on my insides, stitch up stuff inside me they say be torn..."

Her voice caught. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"They say I probably can't ever have a baby again," she lamented. "They say I have too many scars up inside, for a man to put another baby in me!"

She started crying again, and stared at Severus with a look of desperation.

"What I gonna _do_, Sev?" she demanded. "What man ever want to marry me, if I can't have his babies?"

_Lacy, lilting, leering  
Losing love, lamenting  
Change my life  
Make it right  
Be my lady_

She started choking on her sobs.

"No man ever going to _love_ me!" she sobbed. "They find out the truth, they think I'm disgusting!"

"Azalea!" Severus finally interrupted. "You are _not_ disgusting!"

Azalea continued to cry.

"What was done to you was disgusting!" Severus exclaimed. "Your aunt is disgusting! But _you_ are not disgusting!"

Azalea looked up at him, whimpering like a little child.

"You not disgusted with me, Sev?" she whined.

"Of course not!" he answered. "I'm very sad for you. And angry at the people who hurt you. I have great _respect_ for you, going through all that pain and anguish!"

A new flood of tears came spilling out of Azalea, but this time of gratitude, as she put her arms around Severus and sobbed into his chest. He rested his chin on her head, and resumed stroking her hair.

He did not say another word as she continued to cry. It was as if she had bottled it all up since it had happened, and only now felt that she could let it all out.

_Wordlessly watching  
He waits by the window and wonders  
At the empty place inside  
Heartlessly helping himself  
To her bad dreams  
He worries did he hear a goodbye  
Or even hello _

_They are one person  
They are too alone  
They are three together  
They are for each other_

After a few minutes Azalea's sobs subsided and she sat up, straightening her dress and wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands.

"Don't tell the others!" she admonished, sniffing. "Annie and Benjie know, but Angel and Mina don't. They just think I was sick with the flu or somethin' earlier this year, they don't know about my baby."

"They wouldn't think any less of you," Severus stated.

"_Don't tell them!_" Azalea exclaimed, on the verge of hysteria. "Promise, Sev! Never, _ever_ tell them! Swear!"

_Stand by the stairway  
You'll see something certain to tell you  
Confusion has its cost  
Love isn't lying _

_It's loose in a lady who lingers  
Saying she is lost  
And choking on hello _

_They are one person  
They are too alone  
They are three together  
They are for each other_

"Alright," Severus acquiesced. "I swear that I will never tell Angel or Yesmina about it."

A look of relief showed on Azalea's face.

"But why then did you tell _me_?" Severus inquired. Azalea looked surprised.

"I needed to tell someone," she whispered. "And you my little bro', you my hero!"

She leaned back against the back of the passenger seat, and put her arm around Severus, pulling him over so that he sat next to her leaning on her shoulder, with Azalea leaning her head on top of his. She ran her fingers through his hair, occasionally twirling strands of it.

_Guinevere drew pentagrams  
Like yours, milady, like yours  
Late at night when  
She thought that no one  
Was watching at all  
She shall be free  
As she turns her gaze  
Down the slope to the harbor  
Where I lay  
Anchored for a day_

Both sat as if in a daze. It was as if, after the floodgates of emotion had been opened, Azalea was now empty.

Their silence was broken by the sound of Severus' sniffing. Azalea shifted to be able to look at him. It was hard to tell with the reflection on his face of the rain dripping down the windows, but she saw that he had tears streaming down his cheeks.

Azalea wrapped her arm around his head and pulled it down to her breast, kissing his forehead.

"Don't cry, baby!" she whispered. "Don't you cry for me!'

Severus stifled a sob. Azalea kissed him on his cheek, tears starting to well in her own eyes.

"Severus, I survived!' she exclaimed hoarsely, hugging him. "I survive! _That_ the important thing! If anything like that ever happen to you, _you_ survive! You go on! You go on breathin'! One breath after the other!"

"H...How?" he stammered. "How?"

Azalea again hugged him, and kissed him on his cheek.

"How do you not?" she asked, cradling his head in her arms. "When it first happened, I think I wanna die. I think I wanna go with my baby. But now I'm glad I didn't. Even if I can't have any babies of my own, I'm still glad I'm not dead..."

Severus turned and looked up into her face.

"I'm also glad you're not dead," he stated, smiling wanly. Azalea quietly chuckled, and kissed him softly on his lips.

"Thank you, Sev," she whispered in his ear. "Thank you for making me feel good about myself."

There was a slight catch in her voice. They again fell silent, saying nothing as the sounds of the concert drifted to them through the rain.

Severus found it hard to keep his eyes open, and the steadiness of Azalea's breathing showed that she was close to sleep, also.

"I could _kill_ for a slice of pizza!" she suddenly announced, stretching and yawning. Severus chuckled.

"Or a decent hamburger and french fries!"he sleepily agreed.

"Pork chops wi' gravy!" Azalea sighed.

"What was that sandwich from that delicatessen?" Severus grinned. "A Reuben? A big fat Reuben sandwich, with a big fat pickle!"

"Po' boys!" Azalea sighed.

"What are those?" Severus asked, curiosity making him more awake. Azalea thought a moment.

"They a type of sandwich back where I come from," she explained. "Had 'em all the time when I lived with my Granny in Louisiana. They sorta like the grinders Italian restaurants up here make, 'cept down home they fry up shrimps and oysters and stuff, and they put it on this bread...it's _wonderful_ bread, it's all crusty outside and soft and chewy inside!"

Severus moaned, clutching his stomach.

"_Ooooh!_" he giggled. "Stop it! You're making me hungry!"

"Oh, you really like the food back home!" Azalea laughed. "Gumbo..."

"What's _that_?" Severus asked.

"It a type of stew," Azalea answered. "Gumbo _real_ important down there! Everyone have their own receipt for gumbo! My Granny make a great gumbo! And squirrel stew. And turtle soup! "

"_Ewww!_" Severus exclaimed, wrinkling his nose. He was not so sure about those last two items.

"Don't you go _'eww_' boy," Azalea admonished, putting her hands on her hips. "We get down there, I make my Granny make you eat some, you see! You don't go wrinklin' that big nose of yours when you have some!"

"What else do they eat there?" he asked, wanting to get off the subject of eating turtles and squirrels.

"Gator tails..." Azalea grinned, a sly twinkle in her eye. "And don't you go wrinklin' your nose, it good when it grilled on the barbecue..._oh!_ The _barbecue!_"

She fell back in ecstasy.

"When everyone get together, holidays or reunion or camp meetin', there's always a barbecue! Big ol' pig, roasted slow, take two whole days! But it worth the wait, Sev! That pig, it all juicy and just fall off the bone! It melt in your mouth!"

She mimicked eating and then licked her fingers.

Severus clapped his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut.

"_No-no-no-no-no!_" he squealed. "Stop it! I'm too hungry!"

Azalea leaned forward and took his hands away from his ears.

"_Meat pies!_" she whispered huskily into his ear, drawing each word out. "_Crab cakes!_"

"_Noooooo!_" Severus giggled. "_StopitStopitStopit!_"

They both giggled as Azalea leaned back with Severus in her arms. She traced a finger around his lips, and then pressed her lips to his left ear.

"_Bread puddin'._.."

She brushed her lips across his forehead, and tickled his right ear with her tongue.

_"...with whiskey sauce_..."

"_Noooo!_" Severus moaned breathlessly, his knees bending in an almost reflexive motion to his chest. "You are _killing_ me!"

Azalea shifted so that she was on her hands and knees over Severus. She pushed his knees down, and then leaned toward him, softly stating, "_Fig and Pecan Pie!_"

She kissed his forehead and then resumed her original position sitting beside him, laughing as she took him in her arms. Her arm caressed his chest.

"_Candied yam ice cream, baby!_" she hummed into his ear. Severus swooned.

"Why...why are you _doing_ this to me?" he gasped, giggling.

"_Syrup cake_," Azalea teased. "_Peanut butter pie! Sweet potato cheesecakes!_"

"_Oh! Oh! Oh!_" Severus gasped. "Stop it! Please stop it!" However, he was no longer trying to cover his ears.

"Fo' breakfast, one day we have _spoon biscuits_ with _gravy_," Azalea enticed, running her fingers through Severus' hair. "'nother day, we have _hush puppies_ with _maple syrup_. Sometimes, Granny she fry up some _trout_ then put _eggs_ and sauce on it..."

"_Oooooohhh!_" Severus moaned in ecstasy.

"Sometimes she take one of those _English muffins_..."

"Scones..." Severus mumbled, correcting her.

"Whatever _you_ call it!" Azalea admonished, hitting him on his arm. "Don't interrupt! Granny, first she put _fried crisp bacon_ on that muffin. Then _fried oysters_. Then an _egg_, and sauce all on top!"

"_Oooooooohhh!_" Severus again moaned, tears coming to his eyes. "You are a _terrible_ woman!"

Azalea just hugged him tighter and laughed. Then yawned.

"We need some sleep, baby!" she decided. She leaned over Severus and grabbed a quilt, which she pulled over both of them to keep out the chill of the night.

Severus _was_ exhausted. It did not take long for him to start drifting off to sleep, with Azalea periodically whispering in his ear.

_So I listened once again  
To my bluebird sing, oh yes  
And children, how she made  
The mountains ring_

"Pralines!"

_Now when hearts be stilled  
That gentle voice is spring  
Oh, my precious  
My soul says to my blue-eyed sparrow  
Come back, come back_

"Fried turkey and two types o' dressin', cornbread or oyster!"

_I can peel away the cages  
Come back, come back  
I can put away the rages  
Come back, come back  
Can we turn the next page together?_

"Whipped sweet potatoes!"

_Listen to my bluebird laugh  
She can't tell you why  
Deep within her heart you see  
She knows only cryin'_

"Corn chowder wi' shrimps!"

_There she sits aloft at perch  
Strangest color blue  
Flying is forgotten now  
Thinks only of you_

The rain had finally stopped, and the eastern sky was turning a lighter shade of grey when they both finally fell off asleep. 

_She's got soul  
She's got soul  
She's got soul  
She's got soul  
She's got soul_

Severus unknowingly smiled, as his sleep was filled with dreams of unlimited banquets of strange and delicious food.

The concert, behind schedule due to the weather, continued unabated.

_Soon she's goin' to fly away  
Sadness is her own  
Give herself a bath of tears  
And go home _

_So I listened once again  
To my bluebird sing, oh yes  
And Children, how she made  
The mountains ring_

_Now when hearts be stilled  
That voice is spring  
Oh, my precious  
My soul says to my blue-eyed sparrow  
Fly back home  
Fly back home  
Fly back home_

* * *

* * *

* * *

_If I ever leave you  
You can say I told you so  
And if I ever hurt you babe  
You know I hurt myself as well_

_CHORUS:  
Is that any way for a man to carry on?  
D'you think he wants  
His little loved one gone?  
I love you Baby  
More than you'll ever know  
More than you'll ever know_

_When I wasn't makin' too much money  
You know where my paycheck went  
You know I brought it home to baby  
And I never spent one red cent_

_(Chorus)_

_I'm not tryin' to be  
Any kind of man  
I'm tryin' to be somebody  
You can love, trust, and understand  
I know that I can be, yeah yeah  
A part of you that no one else could see  
I just gotta hear, to hear you say  
It's all right  
Yeah, yeah, yeah!_

_I'm only flesh and blood  
But I can be anything that you demand  
I could be president  
Of General Motors baby, heh  
Or just a tiny little grain of sand_

_(Chorus)_

_(Guitar Solo)_

_(Sax Solo)_

_If I ever leave you  
You can say I told you so  
And if I ever hurt you baby  
You know I hurt myself as well_

_(Chorus)_

_I love you, I love you, I love you, baby!  
Well all right!  
I told ya, so many times before  
I love you  
I love you!  
If you don't know  
Then I'll tell ya one more time  
I love you!  
I love you!_

I LOVE YOU BABY MORE THAN YOU EVER KNOW  
Blood Sweat and Tears  
Woodstock -- August 18, 1969 

* * *

_It's getting to the point  
Where I'm no fun anymore  
I am sorry  
Sometimes it hurts so badly  
I must cry out loud  
I am lonely_

_CHORUS:  
I am yours, you are mine  
You are what you are  
And you make it hard_

_Remember what we've said  
And done and felt  
About each other  
Oh babe, have mercy  
Don't let the past remind us  
Of what we are not now  
I am not dreaming_

_(Chorus)_

_Tearing yourself  
Away from me now  
You are free  
And I'm crying  
This does not mean I don't love you  
I do, that's forever  
Yes, and for always_

_(Chorus)_

_Something inside  
Is telling me  
That I've got your secret,  
Are you still listening?  
Fear is the lock  
And laughter the key to your heart  
And I love you_

_(Chorus)_

_You make it hard  
You make it hard  
You make it hard_

_Friday evening  
Sunday in the afternoon  
What have you got to lose?  
Tuesday morning  
Please be gone, I'm tired of you  
What have you got to lose?_

_Can I tell it like it is?  
(Help me, I'm suffering)  
Listen to me baby  
It's my heart that's a-suffering  
(Help me, I'm dying)  
It's a-dying  
That's what I have to lose_

_I've got an answer  
I'm going to fly away  
What have I got to lose?  
Will you come see me  
Thursdays and Saturdays?  
What have you got to lose?_

_Chestnut brown canary  
Ruby-throated sparrow  
Sing the song  
Don't be long  
Thrill me to the marrow_

_Lacy, lilting, leering  
Ring around the moonlight  
Asking me, said she so free,  
How can you catch the sparrow?_

_Lacy, lilting, leering  
Losing love, lamenting  
Change my life  
Make it right  
Be my lady_

_Que linda me la traiga Cuba  
La reina de la Mer Caribe  
Cielo sol no tiene sange alli  
Y que trist que no puedro vaya  
Oh va, oh va, va_

SUITE JUDY BLUE EYES  
Crosby, Stills, and Nash  
Woodstock - August 18, 1969 

* * *

_Helplessly hoping  
Her harlequin hovers nearby  
Awaiting a word  
Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit  
He runs wishing he could fly  
Only to trip at the sound of goodbye_

_Wordlessly watching  
He waits by the window  
And wonders at  
The empty place inside  
Heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams  
He worries did he hear a goodbye  
Or even hello_

_They are one person  
They are too alone  
They are three together  
They are for each other_

_Stand by the stairway  
You'll see something certain to tell you  
Confusion has its cost  
Love isn't lying  
It's loose in a lady who lingers  
Saying she is lost  
And choking on hello_

_They are one person  
They are too alone  
They are three together  
They are for each other_

HELPLESSLY HOPING  
Crosby, Stills, and Nash  
Woodstock -- August 18, 1969 

* * *

_Guinevere had green eyes  
Like yours, milady, like yours  
When she'd walk down  
Through the garden  
In the morning after it rained  
Peacocks wandered aimlessly  
Underneath an orange tree  
Why can't she see me?_

_Guinevere drew pentagrams  
Like yours, milady, like yours  
Late at night when  
She thought that no one  
Was watching at all  
She shall be free  
As she turns her gaze  
Down the slope to the harbor  
Where I lay  
Anchored for a day_

_Guinevere had golden hair  
Like yours, milady, like yours  
Streaming out when we'd ride  
Through the warm wind  
Down by the bay  
Yesterday seagulls circle endlessly  
I sing in silent harmony  
We shall be free_

GUINEVERE  
Crosby, Stills, and Nash  
Woodstock - August 18, 1969 

* * *

_The pain of losing you, well  
It made me an angry man  
Was there something else  
That I could do, or was it over?  
Had I a chance?_

_So I listened once again  
To my bluebird sing, oh yes  
And Children, how she made  
The mountains ring_

_Now when hearts be stilled  
That gentle voice is spring  
Oh, my precious  
My soul says to my blue-eyed sparrow  
Come back, come back_

_I can peel away the cages  
Come back, come back  
I can put away the rages  
Come back, come back  
Can we turn the next page together?_

_Listen to my bluebird laugh  
She can't tell you why  
Deep within her heart you see  
She knows only cryin'_

_There she sits aloft at perch  
Strangest color blue  
Flying is forgotten now  
Thinks only of you_

_Get into all those blues  
Must be a thousand years  
And each is differently used  
You just know you sit there  
Mesmerized by the depth of her eyes  
I can tell you no lies_

_She's got soul  
She's got soul  
She's got soul  
She's got soul  
She's got soul_

_Soon she's goin' to fly away  
Sadness is her own  
Give herself a bath of tears  
And go home_

_So I listened once again  
To my bluebird sing, oh yes  
And Children, how she made  
The mountains ring_

_Now when hearts be stilled  
That voice is spring  
Oh, my precious  
My soul says to my blue-eyed sparrow  
Fly back home  
Fly back home  
Fly back home_

BLUEBIRD REVISITED  
Crosby, Stills and Nash  
Woodstock -- August 18, 1969 

* * *

* * *


	14. Chapter 12 It's All Right Now Aug18'69

* * *

_MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 1969_

* * *

_Teen angel_  
_Teen angel  
Teen angel  
Ooh, ooh_

Severus' eyes were open, but he could not be sure that he was actually awake or in some sort of dream or trance.

_That fateful night the car was stalled  
__Upon the railroad track  
__I pulled you out and we were safe  
__But you went running back_

He had a vague image in his mind of Azalea telling him something important, also of having been to some banquet of unending, exotic food.

_Teen angel, can you hear me?  
__Teen angel, can you see me?  
__Are you somewhere up above  
__And am I still your own true love?_

Severus did not move, but focused his eyes on his surroundings. He realized he was in Annie and Benjie's minibus. Okay, that was a start.

_What was it you were looking for  
__That took your life that night?  
__They said they found my high school ring  
__Clutched in your fingers tight_

Someone's arm was over his waist, hanging in front of him. It was a female arm, the color of coffee with just a bit of cream added to it, and the fingernails were bubblegum pink.

_Teen angel, can you hear me?  
__Teen angel, can you see me?  
__Are you somewhere up above  
__And am I still your own true love?_

Severus rolled over. Yes, it indeed was Azalea lying on her side beside him, with one unfocused eye open, staring at nothing.

_Just sweet sixteen and now you've gone  
__They've taken you away  
__I'll never kiss your lips again  
__They buried you today_

Azalea's other eye opened.

"Whaddafucktimeizzit?" she mumbled.

_Teen angel  
__Teen angel  
__Answer me please_

"Dunno," Severus mumbled in answer. If he did not move, he could manage to both fathom what Azalea was saying and fashion a fairly coherent answer. But he was too exhausted to attempt anything else.

"Tooearlynomatterwhaddafuckintimeiz," Azalea announced.

Severus just lay there, gazing at the ceiling of the minibus. Was that a stain from cigarette smoke, or was rust coming through the off-white paint?

The concert must still be going on, someone was now singing about prisoners dancing in jail. Or perhaps, Severus thought, he was still "tripping", as Azalea called it.

Wasn't this Monday? Wasn't the concert supposed to end on Sunday night? Was he dreaming? Or had someone made the decision never to end the concert? Maybe all those million people had decided to stay here and make a city.

Severus forced himself to sit up. He shaded his eyes as he looked out the window.

There really wasn't any sun out, but the grey, hazy sky was bright. There was much less people in their immediate area than had been around all through the weekend.

Severus shifted to look out the back window of the minibus. He could see crowds of people slowly leaving the site, dragging their feet as they walked up the road.

However, there was still music playing. He was sure of it. Now they were singing about some Duke from Earl.

"Yougeddanysleep?" Azalea asked, pulling the quilt over her head.

"A little, Severus answered. "You?"

"Nodenuf," was her response. "Whadtimeizzit?"

"Not sure," Severus stated, looking back out at the sky. "I think it is still morning. But the music is still playing..."

"Wishdaidshuddup," she grumbled.

Severus did not know what to say. The effort to sit up, remain in a sitting position, and try to figure out what day and time it was had put too much strain on his mind. He just sat there in a trance. And sat there.

He had no way of knowing how much time elapsed. Azalea's steady breathing betrayed the fact that she had fallen back asleep. Every molecule in Severus' body screamed out for sleep, but for some reason it eluded him.

His stomach growled, and the thought that perhaps they should try to find some food entered his mind, but his body refused to budge.

He saw two boys and a girl with long black hair approach. He knew he recognized them, but for the life of him, he could not remember what their names were.

When they reached the minibus, the two boys opened the side door with a bang, waking Azalea who just turned and peeked out over the top of the quilt without saying a word. Severus thought that she too was wondering who these people were.

"Here you are!" the shorter boy sighed tiredly. Severus suddenly remembered that his name was Angel.

"Yeaherewearewhydahelluwakeus?" Azalea mumbled, pulling the quilt back over her head.

"We wondered what had happened to you two," the taller boy answered, also sounding very tired.

Steve. His name is Steve, Severus suddenly remembered. And the girl is named Free. Yes, we met Steve and Free here. However, Angel belongs to us. He is our friend and brother.

"Wellhereweareledmesleep!" came from under the quilt.

"Annie had her baby, man," Free announced. Severus stared at her. So did Azalea, who again peeked out over the top of the quilt.

Annie. Severus thought he knew an Annie. Yeah, didn't she own this minibus? With her husband. Benjie. Annie and Benjie. She was pregnant.

However, it suddenly dawned on Severus what Free had said.

"Had her baby?" he asked.

"How is she?" Azalea whispered.

"Both '_shes_' are fine!" Angel sighed.

"Judith Guinevere Beth Love Silverstein decided to say hello to everyone just before dawn this morning!" Steve laughed, running his hand through his hair.

"Annie and the baby have been moved to the medical tent," Free added. "Annie's exhausted, but they say she's fine. So's Judy."

Angel sat in a collapse on the edge of the minibus floor sighing, obviously as tired as Severus and Azalea.

"Thought you'd wanna know," he stated. "And wanted t'make sure you both were okay. DeWard said something about someone attacking Azalea last night..."

Severus looked at Azalea as she sat up, pushing the quilt down to her thighs.

"Someassholesthrowedmeindamud," she mumbled. Severus quietly reached over and held her hand.

As tired as he was, Angel suddenly turned around and inspected Azalea with his eyes.

"That's a bad scene, man!" Free exclaimed, crawling past Angel and sitting next to Azalea. "Like, that must have been a real drag, man! Did you get hurt?"

Azalea bent her knees up and hugged them.

"Itwazjustmud," she mumbled softly, her eyes downcast.

Free put her arm around Azalea and hugged her. This surprised Azalea, whose eyes started to fill with tears.

Angel wordlessly reached over and gave Azalea's foot under the quilt a squeeze. This caused Azalea to bury her face into her knees.

Steve didn't say anything, but gave Severus a questioning look. Severus did not say anything, just looked back at Steve with an expression he hoped conveyed the message that he should not pry.

"Do you want to get something to eat, 'z'lea?" Angel asked her softly. She raised her head, and defiantly wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah!" she sighed. "Let's get some fuckin' food!"

She threw the quilt back, got to her knees, and squeezed past Angel and Free to get out of the minibus. Angel and Free followed her, Severus being the last to exit, closing the side door with Steve's help.

They walked towards the Free Kitchen, too tired to say anything. However, Severus noticed that Angel was keeping his distance from him, and actually seemed to be trying to ignore him.

As they approached the Free Kitchen, they noticed that it was in the process of being taken apart. They noticed a couple of Annie and Benjie's friends, and asked them if there was anything to eat.

Sadly, the only things that could be offered were some slices of plain bread, and some peanuts. Steve and Free declined this offer, stating that they thought that they might be able to find something to eat back at their respective camps. Azalea, Angel, and Severus, on the other hand, greedily consumed this meager offering.

"Maybe we can pretend these are peanut butter san'wiches," Azalea mumbled sadly, putting some peanuts on her bread and folding it over. The others just stared at her, and then started laughing. Surprisingly, Azalea laughed, too.

Severus followed Azalea's lead, also putting some peanuts on his slice of bread and folding it over. He took a bite, and was surprised to find out that it was not too bad.

"That must be the _crunchiest_ peanut butter ever!" Steve laughed, watching.

"It is, it is," Azalea agreed, nodding her head, continuing to take bites out of her sandwich. "Someone should sell it as _extra-crunchy_ peanut butter!"

"For _twice_ the price of peanuts!" Angel added. They all giggled at the joke.

"What were you saying last night?" Severus asked. "About what your grandmother makes for breakfast?"

Azalea put down the remnants of her sandwich and looked wistfully off into the distance.

"Fried corn mush w'syrup," she sighed. "And fried crisp bacon. And poached eggs on top o' _English_ muffins!"

She dug her elbow into Severus' ribs, and then finished off the rest of her sandwich.

"Yes," he acquiesced, grinning. "_English_ muffins, _not_ scones!"

"And plenty o' milk to drink, or coffee if'n you're of a mind..." she continued. "Pain perdu..."

"What's that?" Free asked.

"It's what mos' folks call 'French Toast'," Azalea explained, putting her hands around her knees and sighing.

"I'm so hungry, I'd even eat those turtles you talked about last night," Severus stated, staring dreamily off into space.

But Angel stared at both of them, a remnant of his slice of bread in his lap, a peanut halfway to his mouth.

"Do you _have_ to talk about food like that?" he demanded. "And I don't care _how_ hungry I am, I ain't eatin' no turtles! Can't be much meat on 'em, anyways!"

"Not down there," Azalea stated, standing up. "Them's big turtles down there, like this!"

She made a gesture indicating something that would be close to two feet in diameter.

"You _lie_!" Angel exclaimed, finishing off the rest of his bread.

"You see who a liar, asshole!" Azalea answered. "I make sure my Granny cook turtle when we get there, make you all eat some!"

"Thought we goin' to your father's," Angel responded, getting to his own feet. Severus was surprised to see Azalea bow her head and stare at her feet as she traced a design in the mud with her toe.

"Mydadznogood," she mumbled, and then looked up at Angel with a sad expression.

"It Benjie and Annie's idea we go there," she explained. "I not see my dad since I was little more'n a baby, I hardly know him, I don't think he know me..."

There was wetness to her eyes that betrayed the hurt she felt over her father's abandonment.

"He did send me cards on my birthday and at Christmas, when I was at Granny's," she continued. "And sometimes a little money, when he could. But Granny, she say he no good. Mama, she don't say nothin'..."

She looked up at them all with a defiant glare.

"But some people, they say _we_ no good! And that's not true!"

Severus thought that she looked like a wild lion about to attack. He stood up and took her hand.

"Yes, Azalea," he told her softly, squeezing her hand. "You are correct. That is _not_ true."

Azalea glared at him, startled, and then her eyes softened. She squeezed his hand back.

"So I don't know," she continued with a sigh. "My father, maybe he be no good. Maybe he still no good. Maybe he was, but maybe he change. Annie and Benjie, they say that we should at least go there, see what's what, see if my father can keep..."

Her voice trailed off. She looked at Angel and Severus.

"See if he can keep _us_!" she finished defiantly. "_All_ of us!"

Angel and Severus exchanged glances, but said nothing. Steve, and even Free, looked uncomfortable, but no one wanted to contradict Azalea.

"Well," Steve interjected, "you're all coming to _my_ place first! And you'll all get eggs and waffles for breakfast when we're home!"

Free just smiled placidly, but Azalea, Angel and Severus stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

"I heard the adults talking this morning," Steve explained. "My parents, Free's parents, Benjie and some the others that came with you..."

"We're, like, all basically heading in the same direction when we leave here, man," Free added. "Steve's old man and lady figured it'd be groovy if everyone follows them home and crashes at their pad for a few days before splitting, man..."

"Everyone's sorta spaced out after this weekend," Steve continued. "They all figured that it would make sense to hang out at our place for a few days. We have more than enough room, and _definitely_ enough food!"

Azalea, Angel, and Severus just stared at Steve. Severus had lost the finer gist of the conversation after "eggs and waffles".

"So, like, we all can continue to make the scene for a few more days, man," Free smiled.

"I want six eggs for breakfast," Angel stated.

"You got sausage?" Azalea demanded. Steve laughed.

"We raise chickens. And pigs. And milk cows!" he exclaimed. "We make our own sausage! You can have as many eggs as you can eat! And sausages! And waffles! We also grow berries, this time of year you can have blueberry waffles. And apple muffins. All you can eat!"

Severus thought perhaps he may have died, and was on his way to Heaven.

"When do we go?" he pleaded, hoping it was soon.

"Not until Annie's had some rest, man" Free explained.

"I wanna see Annie and the baby," Azalea stated. Angel gave her a surprised glance, but said nothing.

"Come on, man," Free gestured. She and Azalea started walking away with Steve, Angel and Severus trailing.

Angel did not say anything to Severus, and indeed seemed to be walking a little too quickly, as if he would rather be with the others than with Severus.

"Angel?" Severus called softly, reaching out and tapping him on the shoulder. Angel stopped and turned to Severus with an impassive face.

"I...I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday," Severus stated. "I was wrong. In fact, I was quite the ass."

Severus held out his right hand.

"Friends?" he asked. Angel looked at Severus' hand, then at Severus' face. He saw that Angel's lower lip was trembling.

"Sure," Angel answered, taking Severus' hand and shaking it. "We're all assholes one time or 'nother. According to Azalea, I'm _always_ an asshole!"

There was a slight bitterness to his voice.

"No, you are _not_," Severus stated firmly, squeezing his friend's hand. "And Azalea just says that, she doesn't really feel that way. She loves you, Angel."

Angel's lip trembled even more, but he didn't say anything, just gave Severus' hand one more shake and then let go, turning and trotting to catch up with the others.

Severus ran to catch up, reaching them as they arrived at the medical tent.

Now that the concert was winding down, the action at the tent had slowed down considerably. There were many people suffering from cuts on their feet, but most of the drug overdoses either had recovered, or had been evacuated to area hospitals.

Annie was lying on a cot at the far end of the tent. Free's mother and Steve's mother were sitting next to her. Severus could see Yesmina, DeWard, and Dawn a short distance away, Yesmina slumped in a folding chair and DeWard and Dawn sharing a cot. All three were asleep.

They quietly made their way over to Annie's cot. Lying by her side was a tiny infant who to Severus seemed to be smiling up at them.

"Hi, kids!" Annie called out when she saw them, sounding very tired. "Come see who's joined us!"

She shifted her body up, assisted by Free's mother, who gave her an additional pillow, then Annie lifted her daughter up to her breast to show her off.

Azalea was mesmerized by the baby. She sat down on the edge of Annie's cot and reached out to the infant, who grabbed her finger and gurgled. Severus could see tears starting to well up in Azalea's eyes.

Annie saw it too, and caressed Azalea's arm.

"You okay, hon?" she asked, barely audible. Azalea smiled and nodded her head, not taking her eyes off the baby.

Severus moved closer to get a better look.

"Her name is..." Annie started.

"Judith..." Severus reflexively stated, fascinated by the infant.

"Guinevere," Free added.

"Beth," Steve stated.

"Love," Azalea finished. She finally stopped gazing at the baby and looked at Annie. "What you gonna call her?"

"I think 'Judy' will do just fine for everyday!" Annie laughed.

"Why does she have so many names?" Severus asked. Annie chuckled dryly.

"Did you listen to the concert last night?" she asked.

"Sorta," Severus answered.

"Well, after taking all day and most of the night, my daughter started peeking out during 'Suite Judy Blue Eyes', and made her complete appearance during 'Guinevere'!" Annie laughed, but she fell back on the pillows in exhaustion, letting Azalea take Judy.

Severus watched as Azalea gently cradled the infant, cooing at it. Angel stepped forward for the first time and gingerly reached out to the baby as if he were afraid he might somehow damage her.

Azalea shifted so that she could hold Judy to make it easier for Angel to touch her.

"Why does she have two other names?" Severus asked. Annie smiled wanly.

"Beth means 'house' in Hebrew, so my daughter Judith Guinevere is from a House of Love," she explained. "Benjie and I had already decided on 'Beth Love', but her timing made giving her 'Judith Guinevere' seem appropriate..."

Annie looked around.

"Speaking of which," she stated, sitting up again. "I did have a goddamn _husband_ when I came here!"

"He left with the other men when you fell asleep earlier," Steve's mother told her. "I think they're out helping to clean up garbage."

"_Hmmpff!_" Annie snorted. Judy started fussing, so she gently took her from Azalea and held her close. Azalea could not take her eyes off the baby, gazing at Judy lovingly.

Severus could not take his eyes off Azalea.

_It's very far away  
__It takes about a half and a day to get there  
__If we travel by my uh, dragon-fly  
__No it's not in Spain  
__But all the same, you know  
__It's a groovy name  
__And the wind's just right_

Judy continued to fuss. Annie felt her bottom.

"You're not wet," she said softly. "Are you hungry?"

And with that, Annie opened up her blouse to reveal that she was not wearing a bra. She held Judy to one breast, which the infant eagerly grabbed and started sucking.

Severus did not know what to think. He had seen naked female breasts all weekend. However, a strange feeling came over him watching Annie nursing her child.

He was not disgusted, or embarrassed. However, it was such a…a _private_ moment, he felt that they were intruding.

Angel caught his eye, and it was obvious that he was thinking similar thoughts. Angel cocked his head, indicating that he thought he and Severus should leave.

Steve came with them; Severus paused, looking back at Azalea. But she was hypnotized by Judy, and indeed, it seemed as if she belonged in this very intimate scene.

_The clouds are really low  
__And they overflow with cotton candy  
__And battlegrounds red and brown  
__But it's all in your mind  
__Don't think your time on bad things  
__Just float your little mind around_

The boys got outside and paused, looking around.

_Little bit of daydream here and there  
__Oh! Yeah! Ooh! Yeah! Ow!  
__Everything's gonna be alright, babe!_

This was the first time that Severus had the opportunity to get a good look at the concert site.

Someone was still performing on stage, but the crowd had dwindled to perhaps a few thousand at best, crowded around the stage.

What had started out as a gentle sloping pasture of green grass, and had been transformed for three days into a carpet of humanity, was now a muddy wasteland littered with the detritus of hundreds of thousands of vanished denizens of the ephemeral city of love.

The boys just stood there, staring. Severus had never known such complete devastation could be possible.

"Hey, kids!" someone they recognized from the Hog Farm called over to them. "Come on and help us try to clean this up!"

Severus thought that it would take many years to clean up this site, but he, Angel, and Steve walked over without a word, and were handed clear plastic bags.

"Let's get closer to the stage," Steve suggested. "That's Hendrix playing. We can watch him and pick up garbage at the same time."

Angel and Severus looked at him numbly, but since it was as good a plan as any other, they obediently followed him when he turned and strode towards the stage.

Since the field was now empty of people, it did not take long to get to the stage area. They stayed at the back of the crowd, and slowly began picking up abandoned items and outright garbage.

Angel and Steve would periodically stop and stare transfixed at the man performing on stage, so their progress in picking up garbage was slow.

_From nowhere through a caravan  
__Around the campfire light  
__A lovely woman in motion  
__With hair as dark as night  
__Her eyes were like that of a cat  
__In dark that hypnotized me with love_

_She was a gypsy woman  
__She was a gypsy woman  
__She danced around and round  
__To a guitar melody_

Severus felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, and saw Azalea standing there, in her peasant dress and bare feet.

"Azalea," Severus stated. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"Fine," she said, a strange look on her face. She glanced in the direction of Angel and Steve, but they had not noticed her. She turned and looked intently at Severus.

"I couldn't take it any more, Sev!" she whispered into his ear, her voice cracking. "I just couldn't take looking at that sweet baby no more!" Her eyes were glistening.

_From the fire her face was all aglow  
__How she enchanted me  
__Oh how I'd like to hold her near  
__And kiss and forever whisper in her ear_

Severus took her hand and squeezed it.

"Everything will be all right, Azalea," he assured her. "Everything will work out for you in the end. You need to _believe_ that there are those who you know and who you will meet in the future who _truly_ love you, and will _always_ love you, _just_ for you!"

He dropped his garbage bag and took her other hand, and squeezed both at the same time.

"_Do_ you believe that, Azalea!" he demanded. "Because if you truly believe it, it _will_ be true!"

_I loved a gypsy woman  
__I loved a gypsy woman  
__All through the caravan  
__She was dancing with all the men  
__Waiting for the rising star_

Azalea didn't say anything, but she threw her arms around Severus and hugged him so hard, he was afraid he'd pass out.

_Everyone was having fun  
__I hate to see the lady go  
__Knowing that she will never know  
__That I love her  
__I love her_

Azalea took her arms from around Severus, and picked up his garbage bag.

"What we doin' with all this shit?" she demanded.

Angel and Steve became aware of her presence for the first time.

"Glad you could join us, _princess_!" Angel teased. Azalea just made a face at him, turned, and started madly picking up whatever she could find and throwing it in Severus' bag.

Severus grabbed Angel by his sleeve. When Angel looked at him, Severus shook his head but did not say anything. Angel gave Severus a cryptic look, but did not ask any questions. And rather than teasing Azalea further, he instead became solicitous of her.

"Hey, 'z'lea, you _sure_ you wanna do this?" he asked. "It's pretty muddy out here!"

She stopped, dropped the bag, put her hands on her hips, and made a slow 360-degree turn, surveying the site.

"It sure be fuckin' muddy out here!" she exclaimed. "And what _wrong_ with all these fools, they leave all this shit behind!?"

She stopped and turned back to the boys, her gaze falling first on Steve, then Angel, and then coming to rest on Severus.

"But it only mud," she said softly, winking at Severus. "It wash off..."

She smiled, picked up the bag, and started putting garbage into it again.

Severus saw a man a few yards off using a stick to pick garbage up and toss it into a pile, so Severus went off into the woods and got good-sized sticks for himself and the others.

When he came back, all three were standing transfixed, staring at the man performing on stage. Angel whispered to him that the man was playing the National Anthem of the United States. Severus assumed that since they were Americans, they needed to display their patriotism by standing at attention.

To Severus it just sounded like so much noise and squeals, some of which were suggestive of the sounds of bombs falling and exploding. Severus thought that this was a curious thing to do, for an event that was supposed to be devoted to peace and love.

And since he was not American but British, he went back to picking up the garbage. And making a collection from the thousands of aluminum pop-tops left behind.

The others resumed helping him when the National Anthem had ended, grateful for the sticks Severus had gotten them. However, they again stopped, watching transfixed as the performer sang a song about some girl doing a spell that created a purple haze and made the performer kiss the sky.

Severus had never heard of such a spell, and he thought it sounded rather stupid, probably something a Muggle imagined was real magick.

After a few more songs, the performer thanked the remaining audience, and left the stage. The remaining audience did not remain for long, but soon wandered off wearing dazed expressions.

And leaving behind a lot of garbage where they had been standing.

"Why aren't you wearing any shoes?" Severus asked Azalea as they worked together.

"I left them behind with Free," she answered. "They only get ruined out here."

She stopped and looked at Severus, and then smiled.

"Easier to clean mud off my feet than my shoes!" she laughed. "Besides, I ain't the _only_ one goin' barefoot, seems!"

She used her stick to point out five pairs of various footwear just in their immediate vicinity. Severus then looked further, and there seemed to be even more shoes elsewhere.

How strange, he thought. Then he shrugged his shoulders and went back to work.

Now that the concert was over, a more concentrated effort was put forth to clean up what looked to be shaping up to be a mountain of garbage and discarded items.

Some were taking paper and cardboard items and attempting to burn them, a difficult task considering they were mostly soaked by rain and mud. What resulted was a black haze of choking smoke.

Some people were taking the practical approach, and picking thru the field of abandoned shoes as if they were shopping in a store. Some indeed were lucky and found something in their size, and were happy to exchange what they were wearing for what they had found.

Of course, this still left a pair of shoes for someone else to dispose of.

It must have been around midday when Severus and the others had worked their way farther up the hillside. Two men were sitting close to each other, with something in their laps that they kept breaking small pieces off, and putting into their mouths.

It was only as they got closer that Severus could see that the two had split a watermelon between them and were eating the whole thing.

Severus' brain was too numb to be able to fathom how these two men, in the middle of this field of mud and garbage, had found a watermelon.

The two noticed the children staring at them. One of them turned to Severus.

"Would you and your friends like some?"

Severus, staring greedily at the watermelon, could only nod his answer.

One of the men had a pocketknife, which he used to cut big chunks off the watermelon, handing large pieces to each child.

They eagerly devoured this windfall. Severus was sure that it must be the most delicious watermelon ever.

As they were finishing their feast, Free and her mother approached them. Free had Azalea's sandals slung over her shoulder.

"Hey, kids!" Nierika called out to them. "You all look asleep on your feet, man!"

Severus, Azalea, Angel and Steve gathered together, watermelon dripping off their chins.

"Let's make a stop by the lake, get you all washed off, man" Nierika instructed. "Then you all need to get some sleep."

She swooped her arm around them, guiding them in the direction of the lake.

"We're all going to stay here for tonight so that Annie and the baby can get as much rest as possible, man" she explained. "And then we're heading out at first light tomorrow, following the Temples west to their farm..."

"It's sort of like the old west, man!" Free exclaimed dreamily. "It'll be, like, a wagon train of freaks!"

She giggled. Severus giggled, too. Soon everyone was giggling, even Mrs. Swann.

There were a few people in the lake, but only a handful. Perhaps it was because of this, or perhaps because she was so tired, but Azalea just wordlessly slipped off her clothes and went into the water.

Free and her mother also took off their clothes and went into the water, and Azalea gladly took the bar of soap that they offered.

The boys also stripped and entered the water, but Severus for the first time since Saturday felt shy.

Yes, he was now at ease with his own body. Yes, he thought the human body was a thing of beauty.

Yes, he had seen Azalea, Free, Angel and Steve naked more than once over the course of the weekend. Moreover, he had seen hundreds of adults, both men _and_ women, naked, both in the lake and in the woods and even out on the hillside.

However, he felt that there was something decidedly wrong in seeing a friend's _mother_ naked. Even a mother who happily proclaimed herself a naturist and took her clothes off at any opportunity.

On the other hand, maybe especially _because_ of that.

Either way, Severus tried avoiding having to look at Mrs. Swann while she had her clothes off.

They finished washing, and then dressed and slowly walked back to their campsite. Severus could hardly pick up his feet, and indeed was now finding it hard to even keep his eyes open.

The adults had moved their vehicles so that everyone was parked in a circle on one of the least muddy sites available on the property.

The medical tent was being taken down, and they found Annie and Judy in the Swann's school bus. The bus had been refurbished and not only had a couple of sleeping cots, but a tiny kitchenette with a camp stove, so it had been decided that it would be more comfortable for Annie and the baby than the Silverstein's own minibus.

Yesmina was inside the Swann's bus with Annie, and Azalea and Free went in to join her.

"Your sister's with DeWard in your camper," Nierika told Steve. "I think they're going to stay there for the night."

Mrs. Swann then entered the bus.

The three boys stood outside, staring at each other stupidly. Severus then stared out at the field that had been the amphitheater for the concert... It still looked like the scene of a disaster. And indeed, a voice on a radio playing nearby was describing it.

_"...destroyed...debris and destruction everywhere...difficult to get aid to the area...death toll remains unknown..."_

Severus could only hear bits and snatches of it.

"Are they describing this place?" he asked. The statement about an unknown number of dead disturbed him.

"What?" Angel asked. "What are you talking about?"

"On the radio just now," Severus answered.

"No, Sev," Steve answered. "They're talking about Camille..."

"Who is Camille?" Severus asked.

"Camille's not a '_who_', it's a '_what_'," Steve explained. "It's a hurricane. Real bad one, by the sounds of it. They said earlier on the radio that it had winds in excess of 200 miles per hour. It hit Mississippi and Louisiana last night, wiped out whole cities by the sounds of it..."

"What's a hurricane?" Severus asked. He thought he may have heard the word before, but his brain was refusing to work.

"It's a real bad storm, real high winds and lots of rain, and if you are close to the ocean you can get a tidal wave," Angel explained. "Sometimes they come this far north, but usually they stay in the south. Puerto Rico gets them all the time..."

He looked into the bus, and then leaned towards Severus, lowering his voice.

"That's where 'z'lea's family is," he whispered. "So don't say anything to her about it..."

_I was born in a crossfire hurricane  
__And I howled at my ma  
__In the driving rain  
__But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas!  
__But it's all right  
__I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash  
__It's a gas, gas, gas!_

The three of them again fell into silence, standing around stupidly, no one able to come to a decision about what to do next.

"So, does anyone want to come sleep in my camper tonight?" Steve asked, finally breaking the silence. He looked into the Swann's bus.

"It's going to be sorta crowded in there," he stated. "And besides..."

He leaned closer to Angel and Severus, lowering his voice.

"Besides, there's going to be a crying baby!"

Angel looked inside the bus, and then shrugged.

"Okay," was all he said. Steve turned to Severus.

"Thanks, I'll stay here," he decided.

"Suit yourself," Steve chuckled, patting him on the back, and then he and Angel went off towards Steve's camper.

_I was drowned  
__I was washed up and left for dead  
__I fell down to my feet  
__And I saw they bled.  
__I frowned at the crumbs  
__Of a crust of bread  
__Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_I was crowned with a spike  
__Right through my head.  
__But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas!  
__But it's all right  
__I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash  
__It's a gas, gas, gas!_

Severus climbed into the bus. Annie was lying on a cot, asleep. Next to her was a large cardboard box, which someone had adapted into a sort of crib lined with a folded quilt, into which Judy had been placed.

Judy was in a deep sleep, as was Azalea in one of the other cots. Free was lying on a quilt on the floor clutching Bub, her eyes fluttering closed.

"Hi, Sev," Yesmina called out quietly. She was sitting on the floor by Judy, leaning on Annie's cot. Even though she had gotten some sleep earlier, she still looked very tired.

They all did, for that matter.

Severus sat down next to Yesmina, and stared at the sleeping Judy.

"She's so small," he stated.

"Seven pounds, 8 ounces," Mrs. Swann announced, taking a quilt and placing it over her now-asleep daughter.

"Not all _that_ small, for an alleged preemie," she added. "So I wonder if her doctor got the date wrong..."

She took a couple more blankets and quilts, and placed one over Annie. She then handed one each to Severus and to Yesmina, before adjusting Judy's blanket so that the infant would not get cold.

She then lay down next to her daughter, with her arm over both Free and Bub.

Severus pulled the blanket around him. He could see that Yesmina was losing her fight to stay awake, her head lolling over onto Annie's cot and her eyes finally closing.

He just sat there, his back leaning between Annie's cot and the back of a bus seat the Swann's had left in the bus. He had never been this tired in his life, but for some reason his eyes would not close. Finally, he willed them to close.

And soon, it did not matter that it was only late afternoon and still light out. It did not matter that the radio outside kept playing. If Judy cried anytime during the night, indeed, if a hurricane struck, Severus was blissfully unaware of any of it, as he dreamt of farms with unlimited eggs and blueberry waffles and apple muffins.

* * *

_Teen angel  
__Teen angel  
__Teen angel  
__Ooh, ooh_

_That fateful night the car was stalled  
Upon the railroad track  
I pulled you out and we were safe  
But you went running back_

_CHORUS:  
Teen angel, can you hear me?  
Teen angel, can you see me?  
Are you somewhere up above  
And am I still your own true love?_

_What was it you were looking for  
That took your life that night?  
They said they found my high school ring  
Clutched in your fingers tight_

_(Chorus)_

_Just sweet sixteen and now you've gone  
They've taken you away  
I'll never kiss your lips again  
They buried you today_

_(Chorus)_

_Teen angel  
Teen angel  
Answer me please_

TEEN ANGEL  
Sha Na Na  
Woodstock - August 18, 1969

* * *

_It's very far away  
It takes about a half and a day to get there  
If we travel by my uh, dragon-fly  
No its not in Spain  
But all the same, you know  
Its a groovy name  
And the winds just right_

_Hey! Hang on my darling  
Hang on if you wanna go  
Here it's a really groovy place  
It's uh, just a little bit of uh  
Said uh, Spanish castle magic_

_The clouds are really low  
And they overflow with cotton candy  
And battlegrounds red and brown  
But it's all in your mind  
Don't think your time on bad things  
Just float your little mind around_

_Look out! Ow! Hang on my darling, yeah  
Hang on if you wanna go  
Get on top, really let me groove baby with uh  
Just a little bit of Spanish castle magic  
Yeah baby, here's some  
Yeah, okay babe, okay_

_It's still all in your mind, babe  
Ow! Yeah! Ah!  
Hang on my darling, hey  
Hang on, hang on if you wanna go  
And it's happening, oh no, damn hey!  
That's right baby, listen_

_A little bit of Spanish castle magic  
Hey! Little bit of Spanish castle magic  
Hey hey! I can't uh, sing this song, no  
Yeah, ok baby  
Get on baby  
Yeah, It's all in your mind baby_

_Little bit of daydream here and there  
Oh! Yeah! Ooh! Yeah! Ow!  
Everything's gonna be alright, babe!_

SPANISH CASTLE MAGIC  
Jimi Hendrix  
Woodstock -- August 18, 1969

* * *

_From nowhere through a caravan  
Around the camp fire light  
A lovely woman in motion  
With hair as dark as night_

_Her eyes were like that of a cat  
In dark that hypnotized me with love  
She was a gypsy woman  
She was a gypsy woman  
She danced around and round  
To a guitar melody_

_From the fire her face was all aglow  
How she enchanted me  
Oh how I'd like to hold her near  
And kiss and forever whisper in her ear_

_I loved a gypsy woman  
I loved a gypsy woman  
All through the caravan  
She was dancing with all the men  
Waiting for the rising star_

_Everyone was having fun  
I hate to see the lady go  
Knowing that she will never know  
That I love her  
I love her_

_Ah, gypsy woman  
Ah, gypsy woman  
Ah, gypsy woman_

GYPSY WOMAN  
Jimi Hendrix  
Woodstock -- August 18, 1969

* * *

_I was born in a crossfire hurricane  
And I howled at my ma  
In the driving rain,_

_But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas!  
But it's all right  
I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash  
It's a gas, gas, gas!_

_I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag  
I was schooled with a strap  
Right across my back_

_But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas!  
But it's all right  
I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash  
It's a gas, gas, gas!_

_I was drowned  
I was washed up and left for dead  
I fell down to my feet  
And I saw they bled  
__I frowned at the crumbs  
Of a crust of bread  
Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_I was crowned with a spike  
Right through my head  
__But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas!  
But it's all right  
I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash  
It's a gas, gas, gas!_

_Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas  
Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas  
Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas  
Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas_

JUMPING JACK FLASH  
The Rolling Stones  
1969

* * *


	15. Chapter 13 EXODUS Aug19'69

* * *

_I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out; I have been under the weather the past month.  
This was a somewhat difficult chapter to write; a lot of it is based on something from my own childhood.  
I would like to add that this chapter/story takes no stance on any geopolitical issues._

_**

* * *

**_

TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1969

_

* * *

_

Thuggadda-thump. Thuggadda-thump.

_Hmmmmm. Thud. Hmmmmm. Thud-thud._

_Whoosh-whoosh. Whoosh-whoosh._

_Ssshhhhhhhhhhhh. Clunk. Whoosh. Whoosh._

_Squeak-creak. Squeak-creak. Slam. Thup. Thup-thup. Slam._

_Clinkity-chink. Jingle-jingle. Click-click. Clack._

_Hmmmmm. Thud. Hmmmmm. Thud._

Severus bent down and retrieved another pop-top from the large clear plastic bag next to him, and attached it to the group of pop-tops in his lap that he had already attached to each other. He then held the piece up and examined it with a critical eye.

Angel and Steve threw themselves into the seats that were on either side of Severus, Angel wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"That's the last load!" Steve exclaimed, resting his feet on bags full of cleaned bedding and clothing.

The caravan had left the abandoned and mostly desolate site of the Woodstock concert at dawn that morning. Severus and the other children had stirred when the Swann's bus had started moving, but then they all quickly fell back asleep.

Midmorning they had awakened when the caravan had stopped for fuel at somewhere that Annie and Benjie had called "The Poconos" and the decision was made to get some breakfast at a local diner.

After much discussion, and not the least because of disapproving stares and fearful sideway glances from the people of the area, it was decided that the "straightest" looking members of the caravan would go in and order food to go, while others went into a local grocery and bought some more food to take along on their trip.

However, the biggest discussion, which almost lead to an argument, centered on when, where, and if to do laundry.

The "if" argument quickly lost, and the discussion then centered on "when" and "where". Finally, they decided that they would stop outside of somewhere called "Wilkes Barre" by mid-afternoon to make camp for the night, and to do laundry.

Severus had no idea where he now was, other than they were heading generally west from where they had been. Angel had told him it was called "Pennsylvania", and it was some of the most beautiful country Severus had ever seen. And now that he had a full stomach, he was feeling rather contented.

They had indeed stopped and made camp at some state forest nearby, and while some of the adults _had_ done a load or two of laundry at a laundromat they'd found at a local strip mall, the majority of the chore for some reason had fallen to the children.

Azalea quickly decided that it would be much more fun to go shopping so she, Yesmina, and Free had left Angel, Steve, and Severus with bags full of dirty clothes and mud-encrusted bedding to wash, dry and fold.

DeWard had taken one look at the many bags to be done, looked at Dawn, and then grabbed her hand and dragged her along as he ran out of the laundromat to catch up with the older girls.

Angel was surprised to learn that Severus actually understood what a laundromat was, and indeed knew how to actually do laundry (Severus explained that he often helped his mother with the chore at home).

However, since Severus still had a problem understanding American money, he had instead undertaken the chore of sorting items to be washed, having to explain to Angel and Steve why knickers were washed differently than jeans.

Once he had set them straight on that matter, the two American boys took care of doing the actual washing, and then putting the finished loads of wash into dryers.

It was not a hard job as much as it was time-consuming, even more so since this seemed to be a popular resort area, and Angel and Steve explained to Severus that they were nearing a holiday called "Labor Day" when many people came here on vacation, and the vacationers all seemed to be doing laundry today.

Therefore, they sometimes had to wait to use a washer or a dryer. Severus had decided to pass the time by taking his collection of pop-tops and putting them together to form a shirt, using his just-cleaned smock as a pattern.

It was hot both outdoors and inside the non-air-conditioned laundromat. However, there _was_ a sizeable fan that moved the air about, so Severus felt comfortable enough.

A television set was mounted to the ceiling in the corner by where Severus was sitting. At three o'clock, there had been a brief news broadcast, the highlight of which had been footage of great damage caused by the hurricane Camille. Film shot from a plane flying overhead showed areas where nothing was left standing.

Angel mentioned that the area was where Azalea's family was from, and that they should avoid mentioning it to her if possible.

After reporting that Camille was now causing extensive flooding in parts of Tennessee and Kentucky, and was heading east towards Virginia and the Carolinas, the news broadcast stopped, to be followed by a television show that seemed centered at some hospital, where some nurse by the name of Jesse seemed to have many problems.

Severus could not really understand it; Angel explained that it was a type of television show called a "soap". Severus asked him why it was called that, but Angel said that he didn't know, only that they'd always been called that.

Severus shrugged and went back to making his pop-top shirt; he guessed that maybe "soaps" were shown in laundromats, and that is why they were called "soaps".

And so it was that Severus Snape, if not outright happy, was serenely and contentedly relaxed on a hot summer afternoon, as washers, dryers, and television droned in the background and he visualized what design he wished his chain mail shirt to take.

"_Oy!_ Esther! You're late today!"

Severus only took slight notice of the elderly lady entering the laundromat, and the greeting she received from the elderly woman whom Severus had guessed was the owner of the establishment, and who had been watching Severus with interest.

"_Oy veh_, Miriam!" the woman who'd just entered exclaimed, collapsing into a chair by a table a few feet from where Severus was sitting, dropping the bags she carried onto the floor. She picked up an ancient magazine lying on the table and started fanning herself.

"Is it cold enough for you, Miriam?" she asked the owner.

"_Oy!_ It's so cold, I need to put on _three_ coats to go out or else I freeze my _tuchas_!" Miriam laughed. She went back into the office area, and emerged a minute or so later with two glasses of iced tea, and a type of satchel on one arm.

She placed one of the glasses in front of Esther, who gulped down half the glass, and sat opposite her. Miriam then took something out of her satchel and started working on it.

Severus could see that she was using yarn and some needles to create something. He had seen people knitting before, but never to create something as elegant and fine as what Miriam was making.

Esther in turn took yarn out of one of her own bags, but instead of a pair of pointed needles, she used one needle with a hook at the end.

Severus forced himself to focus on his own project.

"So, Esther, what's with all the bags you're schlepping?"

Esther sighed, put down her crocheting, and took another gulp of iced tea.

"Such tsuris I got, you won't believe!" she exclaimed, her eyes wet with tears.

"So?" Miriam exclaimed, but Severus noticed that she did not look up but rather continued to knit without pausing. "You have _more_ troubles than yesterday?"

Esther took another gulp of tea.

"You know my daughter?" she began.

"The married one or the divorced?" Miriam interrupted, continuing to knit.

"My married daughter..."

"Ah, the one married to the schlimazl who can't hold a job?"

Esther's eyes got even wetter, and she retrieved a linen handkerchief from a pocket and dabbed her eyes.

"It's not his fault," she cried, "he just ain't been lucky in finding the right line of work!"

"So? That's what I said, he's a schlimazl!"

Miriam shrugged, continuing to knit. Esther sobbed, got up, and ran into the restroom, locking the door behind her.

Miriam glanced at Severus, adding "And a _putz_!" winked at Severus and then returned to her knitting.

Severus sat there, not knowing what to say. He hadn't understood much of what the women had said, and was a little annoyed that the woman named Miriam seemed to assume he had known what "putz" meant.

He turned to Angel, who had suddenly gotten inordinately interested in Jesse's dramatic woes in the hospital on TV.

Severus touched Angel's arm to get his attention, but Angel elbowed him back. This annoyed Severus even more, because it indicated that Severus should perhaps be ignoring something, but Severus had no idea what.

So Severus went back to working on his chain mail shirt; but he couldn't help noticing that Miriam periodically glanced over to watch what he was doing.

And her knitting in turn fascinated him. Whatever it was that she was creating, it was lacy and ethereal, almost like a spider's web. However, as lovely as what she was creating was, something else kept distracting Severus' attention.

It was not obvious; indeed, at first Severus thought that it was an oddly shaped birthmark on Miriam's arm. But then he realized that it was a tattoo. It seemed to be of faded numbers in a fancy dark blue script, but Severus could not be sure from the distance he was.

Severus thought that it was an odd sort of tattoo, and wondered why this woman would have it.

Angel jabbed his elbow into Severus' side again.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, turning to Angel. "Why did you do that?"

"Don't _stare_!" Angel whispered, nodding his head in Miriam's direction.

"I'm _not_ staring!" Severus retorted, but he had lowered his voice to a whisper also. "But she has a _tattoo_!"

"I _know_!" Angel whispered back, turning his attention back to the television. Steve leaned over to whisper into Severus' ear.

"She's from a concentration camp!" he whispered, before leaning back and focusing his attention on the soap on TV.

Severus just sat there, trying to understand what Steve had just said. At that moment, Esther emerged from the restroom, seemingly composed but still dabbing her handkerchief at her eyes.

She came back and sat back down at the table. Without saying a word, Miriam stood up and took both her and Esther's empty glasses back into her office. Severus could hear water running, and assumed that there must be a sink back there. He also heard the sound of a refrigerator door being opened and closed, and liquid being poured into glasses.

Miriam came back out, but this time instead of carrying just two glasses of iced tea, she carried a tray with five glasses plus a pitcher of iced tea. She put the tray down on her table, and then looked up at Severus.

"You boys like some cold tea?" she smiled, not taking her eyes off Severus.

Angel looked as if he was about to demur, but before he could say anything Severus jumped up from his seat.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed, coming over to Miriam and accepting the glass she handed him and gulping down its contents. Steve and Angel glanced at each other, then stood up and came over.

"Thank you," Angel stated tentatively, accepting the glass that was handed him.

"Thank you, ma'am," Steve added, accepting his own glass.

Severus put his mostly empty glass down, stating "Thank you!" once again, and then picked up his chain mail shirt and attached another pop top.

Miriam sat down, slowly sipping her own glass of tea, not taking her eyes off Severus. Placing her glass on the table in front of her, she pulled one of the chairs out from under the table.

"Young man, why don't you come over here, show us what you are making?"

Severus looked up at Miriam. There did not seem to be any way for him to avoid the invitation, so he picked up the glass, his smock, and the chain mail shirt, and dragged the bag of pop tops over to the table and sat down, feeling a little embarrassed.

"So?" Miriam inquired. "What is it you're making?"

"A shirt," Severus answered, holding up what he had completed so far. "Like fighters used to wear in the old days..."

Severus braced himself for the derisive laughter he was sure was going to come from these women. Instead, both looked at  
his shirt with interest, and Miriam even took it from his hands.

"Ah, Esther!" she exclaimed, holding the item up to the light. "See how clever this nice boy is!"

"Like knights of old, it is!" Esther in turn exclaimed, perhaps glad to be distracted from her own many troubles.

"Yes," Severus giggled, blushing. "That's what I thought these looked like..."

He indicated the bag full of used pop tops.

Miriam and Esther eyed the bag critically, and then looked at each other, smiling.

"He's a knight what fights litter!" Esther laughed, picking up her crochet hook and resuming her work.

"So? You have a dragon down your drain?" Miriam demanded, and then turned to Severus.

"You going to fight dragons in this thing?" she demanded. The question caught Severus off guard.

"Uh...no," he stammered. "I mean...I don't know. _Are_ there dragons around here?"

The thought had never occurred to him before this, but now that these women had raised the issue, Severus wondered why he had never wondered about the existence of magickal creatures here in America.

Perhaps because until recently, his time in America had been in a large city and he was not sure that any magickal creatures actually _did_ live in cities, or any densely populated areas.

At least, that was how it was back home in England. There were no magickal creatures around Spinners End, and his mother had said that such creatures could only be found in forests, mountains, and other wild places.

But perhaps here in America, magickal creatures lived in closer proximity to people. They _had_ made camp for the night at what the others had called a "state forest", so perhaps dragons did live there.

Miriam and Esther chuckled at the intense expression on Severus' face. Miriam looked at Esther.

"_You_ hear of any dragons around here, Esther?" Miriam asked her. Esther chuckled and shook her head, continuing to crochet.

"Not unless you mean Sadie Greenberg, the noodge!"

"_Oy!"_ Miriam exclaimed, nodding her head, at the same time laying Severus' chain mail on the table and pulling his smock over in front of her to inspect it. "Now _there_ is one formidable dragon!"

She looked up at Severus with a smile.

"But I don't think you'd want to take on _that_ dragon, even wearing such a nice shirt as this!" she laughed, indicating the chain mail. She held up Severus' smock.

"You using this as a pattern?" she asked.

Severus had been finishing the last of the tea in his glass, and quickly put it down, gulping what he'd swallowed.

"Sort of..." he sputtered. Miriam inspected the smock with a critical eye, carefully fingering the collar and seams. Severus again braced himself for the expected criticism.

"Nice work," she mused, looking inside the smock and making note of the finished seams there. She then looked very closely at the bound buttonholes, and made note that there was no manufacturer's tag on the inside collar.

"This isn't off the rack," she pronounced, more of a question than a statement. She looked at Severus.

"Your mother made this?"

Severus paused. Point of fact, he had never seen his mother sew, either by magickal or nonmagickal means. On rare occasions, his father had given her enough money to buy Severus clothes at the local Muggle discount store.

However, the majority of his clothes -- his smock included -- were the result of periodic trips that his mother took by herself. She never told him where she had gone, and indeed always acted somewhat ashamed when she came home from these trips, which was not alleviated by the insults his father had for the items that his mother had gotten.

Severus had the impression that wherever his mother had gotten these particular clothes, that they were considered strange and not of the fashion that most Muggles currently wore.

Or at least, not what his father considered "normal". However, since coming to America, Severus was finding that most of the "strange" clothes his mother had given him were not considered all that strange here in America.

"No...no, my mum didn't make that," Severus explained. "I don't know where she got it."

It was as if Miriam noticed Severus' accent for the first time.

"You ain't American," she stated, more a pronouncement than a question.

"No," Severus answered. "I'm from England."

"_Hmmmm_," Miriam mused with a nod, still examining his smock. "Work like this, you don't find in America much..."

She finished her inspection, and held the smock in front of her by the shoulders.

"It's very bright!" she observed. Severus chuckled.

"That's Annie," he explained. "It was white to begin with, but Annie hates anything white."

Esther glanced up from the item she was making with white yarn, to meet Miriam's eyes, and then to glance at Miriam's white knitted lace.

"So? This Annie, we need to keep our things away from!" Miriam laughed, putting down the smock and then picking up Severus' glass.

"You want some more tea...?" she asked, not waiting for an answer before refilling the glass. The way her voice trailed off, Severus realized that she wanted to know his name.

"Severus. My name is Severus," he answered, eagerly accepting the full glass. "And yes, thank you, I'd like it very much. It is very good tea!"

He gulped down some of the tea, and then placed the glass on the table.

"People over here don't seem to know how to make proper tea!" he exclaimed, lowering his voice as if he thought this revelation would hurt Angel and Steve's feelings.

Miriam chuckled, but nodded as if she agreed with Severus' assessment.

"Would your friends like some more?" she asked, gesturing to the two boys who seemingly were still absorbed with the soap on TV.

"That's Angel," Severus stated, pointing. "And that's Steve."

When Angel and Steve heard their names mentioned, they glanced over.

"Have some more tea!" Miriam exclaimed, gesturing that they should come over. Angel and Steve exchanged glances, and then slowly arose from their seats and came over.

Miriam indicated that they should sit at the table, so they reluctantly sat down and handed their glasses to Miriam, who refilled them. The boys politely thanked her as they accepted the glasses and took a drink.

"'Angel'," Miriam observed, "that's a lovely name!" Angel took another swallow of tea to avoid having to make a comment.

"Where're you boys from?" Esther asked, still continuing to crochet. Miriam also picked up her needles and resumed knitting.

Severus looked from Angel to Steve, both of whom seemed reluctant to speak for some reason.

"Angel and I were in New York City," Severus answered. "The people we were with went to a concert at a place called Woodstock..."

Both Miriam and Esther stopped what they were doing and looked at the boys.

"You were actually _there_?" Esther demanded. "_Oy_, such a crowd they showed on the TV!"

"Yes, it _was_ very crowded," Severus admitted. "And muddy. We met Steve and his family there; we're all going to his farm in..."

Severus tried to remember where they said the Temples lived.

"Indiana," Steve interrupted. "Southern Indiana, down by the Kentucky border."

"And we got stuck doing laundry," Angel complained.

"So?" Miriam observed, as she and Esther resumed working on their respective projects. "A very _good_ job of it you do, from what I seen! And Severus here got to work on his knight-in-shining-armor uniform! That's very important -- you never know when you might run into a dragon!"

Angel snorted, Steve smirked, and Severus felt his face getting hot and was sure he must be blushing, much to his embarrassment. He took another pop top and added it to the shirt, almost as an act of defiance.

"I don't think we have any dragons on the farm," Steve chuckled. "There _is_ one pretty ornery he-goat that's always sneaking up and butting anyone who's not looking, where that shirt might come in handy..."

"Yeah, and we _always_ have Azalea!" Angel snorted. "I wouldn't be surprised if _she_ don't start breathin' fire one day! That shirt'll protect ya from her hittin' and kickin' ya!"

He looked at what Severus was making with a more critical eye.

"Come to think of it," he mused, "you can make _me_ one of those when you're finished with yours. _And_ make me a pair of pants, too! That'll stop her from kickin' me so much!"

"Dude, those'll be one of the most _uncomfortable_ pants to wear!" Steve laughed. "Not to mention a little...well...you know..._air conditioned_?"

Miriam and Esther softly chuckled, but Severus held up the chain mail he had created as if he was picturing how to form it into an item of clothing to be worn below the waist.

"I'd wear it _over_ my pants, _stupid_!" Angel exclaimed. "Like Sev's going to wear his shirt _over_ a real shirt!"

Angel looked at Severus as the latter still examined the chain mail he had created with a critical eye.

"You _are_ going to wear it _over_ a shirt, _aren't_ you?" Angel demanded.

"Huh?" Severus asked, startled out of his reverie. "Uh, yeah...I guess. I hadn't really thought about it."

Severus wondered how the cool aluminum would feel against his skin.

"You should make chaps, like cowboys wear," Esther observed. The boys looked at her questioningly. Even Miriam had raised an eyebrow.

"You could put them on over your pants, like cowboys put those things called chaps on over their blue jeans," Esther continued.

"Yeah!" Steve exclaimed. "You poke those pop tops thru pieces of leather and put ties on them so you could tie them to your legs!"

Severus looked at a pop top and tried to figure out how to poke one through leather.

"_Tesch!"_ Esther admonished. "He just needs to sew them on some heavy cloth!"

"Or work them up with a piece of yarn," Miriam observed.

"That might work," Esther agreed. "It'd be like working with beads."

Severus looked at them questioningly.

"Knitting," Miriam explained, raising her own knitting up a few inches, and then nodding her head towards Esther. "Or crocheting, like what Esther's doing. You would pick up one of those things with every stitch."

Severus looked down at his bag of pop tops, then at what Miriam and Esther were doing, and immediately saw the elegance of the concept. Instead of bending the "tongue" portion around the ring portion to attach it, it would be attached via the ring, causing the tongue to hang down loose like the scales of a snake. Or a dragon.

"I don't know how to do that," Severus admitted sadly.

"So?" Miriam exclaimed. "Let me finish this row, and I'll show you how!"

Severus watched as Miriam seemingly by magick added a little more bit of ethereal lace to the item she was making. She came to the end of the row, put something on the tip of the needle the lace was on to keep it from slipping off, and moved it to one side. She then reached down and pulled another set of needles from her bag and a skein of yarn much heavier than what she had been working with.

"Come sit closer," she stated, indicating a spot next to her. Severus scraped his chair over.

"First, this is how you hold the yarn," she told him, holding the yarn in a certain way. "Now you do it.

Severus had no trouble in doing what Miriam had shown. She smiled softly and took the yarn back.

"Good. Now this is how you cast on."

Severus watched intently as Miriam used the needles to loop the yarn over one of the needles. After Miriam had almost completely filled the needle with yarn, she stopped and pulled at the string of yarn that was attached to the skein, causing the stitches she had just cast on to disappear. She then handed the needles and yarn to Severus.

"Now you try."

Severus held the yarn as Miriam had previously shown him, but had some difficulty in coordinating holding the needles at the same time, let alone manipulating them correctly to transfer the yarn to the needles. It took a couple of more demonstrations from Miriam before Severus got the knack of this "casting on".

When he had almost filled the needle, Miriam showed him how to start knitting. Severus found this actually easier to do than the first step. After a few minutes, he was blithely knitting and purling, and when Miriam showed him how to add the pop tops to the piece, Severus was happy to see that they lay exactly as he had imagined they would.

"A maven, he is!" Esther exclaimed. Severus didn't know what that meant, but from Esther's tone, it sounded like she was impressed with him.

"Maybe you'd like to try doing crochet?" she asked, and Severus nodded eagerly.

Esther reached into her own bag and took out a skein of yarn and a fairly large crochet hook. As in knitting, there was a special way to hold the yarn. Once Severus got the hang of that, Esther showed him how to create a chain. To Severus, this was much easier than the "casting on" of knitting, and soon he was creating rows of half, single, double, half-double, and triple stitches.

Esther showed him how he could do multiple stitches in one stitch of the previous row, thereby creating a design. She also showed him how to place a pop top in a stitch to attach it to the garment.

Severus realized that it was all rather mathematical, and when viewed that way it was all rather simple.

Because the knitting was more involved than crocheting, Severus decided to go back to knitting so that he could take advantage of Miriam's instruction for the short time he would be there.

And so it was that after about half an hour, Severus was happily working his pop tops into a knitted garment.

Steve and Angel and removed the last of the laundry from the dryers, folded it, and put it into bags. However, they didn't seem eager to give up the free TV in the laundromat, so they did not pressure Severus to leave but rather sat down to see the conclusion of the current episode of poor Jesse's drama in the hospital.

Just as the soap opera was ending, Azalea and the others returned, loaded down with shopping bags and containers of ice cream sundaes. Angel grimaced.

"Perfect timing again!" he muttered, as Dawn ran over to her brother and handed him a large plastic boat-shaped container.

"Thanks," he told her as he stared at the multi-colored slush, which had indeterminate chunks in it.

"You have _that_ attitude," Azalea haughtily told Angel, "then you don't need the ice cream we brought you!"

Severus looked up eagerly at the word "ice cream", and Yesmina brought a similar bowl of slush over to him, and then sat at the table to finish her own sundae. Free joined them, silently licking an ice cream cone.

Azalea shoved Angel's sundae at him; he took it and looked at it with a disgusted expression.

"It's all melted," he observed.

"What you want, ass..._stupid_?" she retorted, glancing over at Miriam and Esther. "It's like _102_ _degrees_ out there!"

"Yeah, and it's like 110 degrees in here!" Angel countered. Miriam and Esther chuckled at the war of exaggeration.

"It still tastes good," Severus observed, eagerly shoveling the slushy mess into his mouth. "And it's _cold_!"

Dawn sat down next to DeWard, who hadn't said anything because he was too busy noisily drinking what was left of his own sundae.

Azalea in turn slurped the rest of her own sundae before tossing the plastic bowl in the garbage and coming over to the table Severus was sitting at.

"Whatchoo makin'?" she asked, in one of the politest tones Severus had ever heard her speak in. He realized that the question was directed as much to the elderly women as towards him.

"Severus here, he's a brave knight who needs a strong suit to fight off dragons and defend pretty girls," Miriam answered, winking at Azalea, Yesmina, and Free. "Esther and me, we just showed him a few tricks, Severus took it from there."

While Free maintained her usual serene composure, both Azalea and Yesmina had turned to stare at Severus when Miriam had said "and defend pretty girls". Both girls smiled broadly at Severus, and Azalea had a strange glint in her eye.

Severus grabbed his sundae and drank what was left so that he could hide his face that he was sure must be bright red. He did it so quickly that he spilled some of the sticky liquid on his hands, which gave him an excuse to escape from the table to throw the bowl away and to go into the restroom to wash his hands.

He braced himself for the teasing he expected from at least Azalea when he returned to the table, but instead he found everyone except the elderly women, even Free herself, entranced by something that was playing on the television.

Severus resumed his seat and twisted around to see at what everyone else was staring.

Extremely dramatic music was playing, but all that Severus could see on the screen was an image of the sea crashing on some rocks on shore. He could not understand why everyone seemed to find it so interesting, as it looked boring to him.

"Wha...?" he started to ask, turning back around, only to be met by a chorus of "_Shhhhh!_' from all the children, including Angel and Steve, even Free.

"It's _Dark Shadows_!" Yesmina whispered into Severus' ear.

"It's _dreck_!" Miriam smirked, resuming her knitting. Severus looked at her questioningly, and she leaned over and whispered in Severus' other ear.

"Garbage," she explained. "Rubbish. What's flushed down the toilet!"

"Oh!" Severus answered softly, nodding his head in understanding.

He turned to look at the television. The show had started, and all the actors and actresses were in clothes from long ago. Severus rather liked the clothes that they were wearing, and thought that the actresses were very pretty.

"Damn!" Azalea exclaimed, and then put her hand to her mouth, glancing from Miriam to Esther. "Sorry."

Miriam and Esther just chuckled and continued their needlework.

"What's goin' on?" Azalea demanded. "Where they all at?"

Severus could see that Yesmina, Angel, and DeWard seemed just as confused as Azalea.

"They're back in time," Angel shrugged.

"I _see_ that!" Azalea retorted. "Last time I see this, they here today, that doctor lady tryin' to save Barnabas..."

"Last time _we_ saw it, they'd just traveled back to 1897," Yesmina explained. "But I don't know what's going on now; we've missed too many episodes."

"Don't you have a TV?" Steve asked.

"Annie and Benjie don't believe in TV, except for special things like that moon landing last month," Angel explained. "Annie wouldn't let us watch any soaps in the afternoon..."

"Barnabus is trying to save David," Free explained. It was obvious that she watched the show every day.

"But Angelique's there," Steve added. "And Laura Collins..."

"And a werewolf," Dawn finished. This final bit of information caught Severus' interest. He tried to pay closer attention to the show.

After about a quarter of an hour, between the story itself and what the others told him, he gathered that this _Dark Shadows_ was a soap opera about magick and magickal beings.

The main character was a Barnabus Collins who, the others explained, had been tricked by a witch named Angelique into marrying her, and then when Barnabus left her Angelique had placed a curse on him, which had turned him into a vampire.

However, Barnabus did not want to be a vampire, so he kept trying to find ways to become human again, while at the same time fighting the evil Angelique who, for some reason, was still alive after almost 200 years.

After hearing this plot synopsis, Severus decided that Miriam was correct, the show _was_ "dreck".

He turned away from the TV and resumed knitting his new chain mail shirt. He noticed that Azalea kept glancing away from the television show to look at not only what he was making, but also what the two old women were creating. He also noted that Azalea on more than one occasion stared at the tattoo on Miriam's arm.

"My granny taught me that," she announced at the next commercial break, gesturing towards Miriam's knitting. "Taught me crochet, too," she added, looking towards Esther.

Severus thought it interesting that while the two women had pronounced it "_kro-shay_", Azalea had pronounced it as "_kro-shet_".

"I can do granny squares," Free added. "My grandmother and my old lady both make quilts; they showed me how to make squares..."

"So?" Miriam answered, glancing up at Azalea with a sly smile, but not missing a stitch. "You knit much?"

"No," Azalea shrugged. To Severus, it seemed as if this was something that about which Azalea was disappointed.

"I'm not all that good at it," she admitted. "My granny taught me when I was small, I just did simple things. I haven't done it in a long time..."

"No?" Miriam responded. It occurred to Severus that Miriam seemed to know the answers already to questions she asked. Severus wondered if the woman was a Legilimancer.

"Didn't your grandmother make you practice?" Miriam inquired.

"I haven't lived with her in a long time," Azalea answered wistfully, but then she shook herself out of her reverie. "But we goin' down to see her just after we stay with Steve at his farm!"

She watched Miriam knit for a few seconds.

"My granny does fine work like that," she admitted. "Crochets fine work, too. She knit the lace for my mama's veil when she marry my papa, crocheted the lace for the dress she marry in...even knit the stockings mama wore...'xceptin' those were stockings granny herself wore when _she_ got married, but she knit 'em herself...she say I get 'em when _I_ gets married..."

Severus wondered if he was the only one who heard the catch in Azalea's voice at the end. He noticed that her eyes seemed inordinately bright, and he suspected that she was fighting back tears. But the commercial break had ended, and she turned her attention back to watching _Dark Shadows_.

Miriam said nothing, but finished the row she was working on, laid her knitting down, and bent down and retrieved another pair of needles from her bag, along with a skein of yarn.

"So?" Miriam asked, handing the needles and yarn to a surprised Azalea. "You show me what your granny taught you!"

Azalea looked at the items with surprise, and then slowly picked them up. She smiled sheepishly at Miriam.

"It's been awhile..." she explained, but then took the yarn and held it in a similar manner to what Miriam had taught Severus, and slowly cast on many stitches. She then paused as if trying to remember something, and then slowly started to knit.

Miriam watched her carefully, and then nodded approval before picking up her own work and resuming knitting.

Severus and Yesmina watched both Miriam and Azalea, intrigued. Free even got up from her seat and came over to watch.

"_What!?"_ Azalea demanded, stopping knitting and glaring at them.

"I didn't know you could do that, Azalea," Yesmina stated. Azalea shrugged and resumed knitting.

"Lot o' things you don't know 'bout me," she mumbled.

"You do that well," Severus said with admiration.

"Will you teach me how to do it?" Yesmina asked. Azalea shrugged again.

"Sure, if you want," she answered. "But when we get to Louisiana, you have Granny show you. _She_ really know how to do it!"

Severus wondered why Azalea seemed to be forgetting -- or ignoring -- the fact that she possibly could end up staying with her father in Missouri and never get to Louisiana.

Esther took the crochet hook she had given Severus and handed it to Free, along with a bit of yarn.

"You show us what you can crochet!" Esther encouraged her. Free looked surprised, but sat down next to DeWard and Dawn and started crocheting a chain. The two youngsters were fascinated with what Free did, and her progress was delayed as she played with them by quickly crocheting a chain several inches long, and then undoing it almost instantly by pulling on the yarn so that the loops were undone. Free did this several times, but DeWard especially seemed to not grow tired of how the "snake" instantly disappeared as if by magic.

But Free eventually stopped making the "snake" disappear, and Severus noticed that after making a short chain, she attached the ends of the chain together to make a loop, and then proceeded to crochet stitches into the loop, eventually creating a square, which she cut loose from the skein.

However, she didn't stop there. She resumed crocheting, and Severus thought she was going to make another square like the one she had just made. But this time her stitches were slightly different, and soon she had a square that had a flower sitting on top of it. She knotted it off and then snipped the yarn, holding the new square up for Esther's inspection.

"_Miriam!"_ Esther exclaimed, taking Free's newly created square of crochet. "Look at the beautiful Irish Rose this nice girl just made!"

Miriam looked at it and nodded with approval. Esther handed it to Yesmina when the girl reached for it, and Yesmina turned it over and over, staring at it in admiration.

"This is so _beautiful_, Free!" Yesmina exclaimed. Severus had to admit that it was indeed beautiful, and made a note to ask Free to show him how to do it.

"My Granny does _that_, too!" Azalea stated. "She made a bedspread with those, but with cotton thread, not yarn..."

"My grandmother makes them with cotton, too, man" Free admitted. "I've never done it with cotton, it's too hard. I end up with all knots, man!" Free laughed. "I _do_ do macramé, though, that's _supposed_ to be all knots, man!"

Severus wondered how something could be made just by making knots in thread.

By this time, only Steve and Angel were engrossed in watching _Dark_ _Shadows_. Azalea was still watching the show, but would often turn away to pay attention to what she was knitting.

Yesmina was only listening to the show as she watched both Azalea and Miriam work. Free was showing DeWard and Dawn how to crochet their own "snakes".

Severus for his own part was entranced by Miriam's knitting. He watched her intently, trying to extrapolate what she was doing with fine thread to what he was doing with medium-weight worsted.

But he couldn't help but be distracted by the tattoo on Miriam's arm. Azalea kept noticing it, too. Severus could see her occasionally glancing at Miriam's arm, and once Azalea even glanced over at Severus with a cryptic look on her face, but she did not say a word and just kept knitting.

"I think we could all use a nice glass of tea!" Miriam suddenly announced as she finished a row and laid her work on the table. She stood up and placed the now-empty glasses on the tray with the pitcher that now only had melted ice in it, and carried it back to the office-kitchen area.

Azalea glanced at Esther, and then leaned over the table to Severus.

"Stop staring at it!" Azalea whispered hoarsely. "It's not polite!"

"_You're_ staring at it, too!" Severus whispered back. Azalea just sat back in her chair and knitted without saying another word.

"What?" Yesmina whispered. Severus leaned over, cupped his hands around Yesmina's ear, and whispered.

"That woman has a _tattoo_ on her arm!"

Yesmina turned and stared at him, and then made Severus turn his head while she cupped her hands around his ear and whispered in reply.

"I know! It's because she's Jewish!"

Severus looked at Yesmina in surprise. He then cupped his hands around her ear again and whispered, "Steve and Angel said it's because she was in something called a concentration camp!"

Yesmina turned Severus' head and cupping her hands around his ear stated, "Yes! That's where the Nazis put Jewish people! It was a type of jail."

"What are Nazis?" Severus whispered back, forgetting to cup his hands around her ears. Azalea leaned forward.

"You two ain't too _subtle_!" she whispered in disgust, as Miriam came back out carrying the tray with the pitcher of ice tea, but this time there was a stack of tall Dixie Cups besides it instead of actual glasses.

She and Esther exchanged cryptic glances as Miriam placed the tray on the table.

"Who'd like some nice iced tea?" she asked loudly, as she proceeded to pour some into cups before anyone had a chance to answer.

DeWard and Dawn eagerly scrambled from their chairs and accepted cups of tea. Free also came over and took a cup, and Azalea, Yesmina and Severus accepted cups of tea with thanks. Steve and Angel demurred, saying they'd had enough to drink before, but Miriam still poured two more cups and left them on the tray.

She then sat down and resumed her knitting.

"That is really beautiful, ma'am," Severus observed.

"'Miriam'," she answered. "You can call me 'Miriam'. And this here's Esther." She gestured to her friend at the other end of the table.

"What is it?" Yesmina asked, pointing at what Miriam was knitting.

The woman laid down her needles and spread the item out on the table. It was about two feet wide, and at this stage a little over three feet long, although it was obvious that the finished item would be much longer.

Severus could see that the lacy design contained a number of six-pointed stars, and some symbols that were vaguely familiar to him.

Then he remembered seeing both the stars and symbols like that in a book of spells belonging to his mother, which she said she would give him when he was older.

Was Miriam knitting a type of charm?

The woman resumed her knitting, but left the item spread out on the table.

"It's to be a runner on my buffet at home," she explained to Yesmina. "My eldest, and her husband the rabbi, are bringing their new baby to visit during the High Holy days next month, I thought this would be good to have..."

She shrugged her shoulders, and smiled slightly as she noticed Severus staring at the designs.

"High Holy days?" he asked. "What are those?"

He felt a sharp pain in his shin as Azalea gave him a hard kick.

"_Ow!!_" he exclaimed, glaring at her and rubbing his leg. "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Azalea retorted, continuing her own knitting.

"Huh!" Miriam chuckled. "That leg armor, you should make first!"

"Yes, I shall," Severus agreed, still rubbing his shin where Azalea had kicked him and continuing to glare at her.

"The High Holy days," Miriam stated, as if no interruption had occurred, "are Rosh Hashanah, the start of our year, followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement..."

"Day of Atonement?" Severus asked. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Azalea was now glaring at him, but he could not understand why she was upset with him asking the question.

"At Rosh Hashanah," Miriam answered, "one of the things we do is go to a river or a stream and take what is in our pockets and throw it in...this is a way to show casting off sins..."

"And we eat apples dipped in honey, so we will have a sweet new year!" Esther interjected. DeWard and Dawn showed interest in this latter bit of information.

"Then on Yom Kippur," Miriam continued, "we ask God to forgive us for any wrong doings we did to others during the previous year. If we can, we go to the person who we did wrong by, and ask them to forgive us. Then we spend the day at temple, fasting and praying..."

Severus just sat there, not knowing what to say. He had never heard of any spell where you threw things from your pockets into moving water...but the concept did not seem implausible to him.

Moreover, he didn't know if eating honey-dipped apples would guarantee that the year to follow would be sweet -- but it seemed a pleasant enough custom that would be enjoyable to do.

However, he had to think about the idea of this Day of Atonement; as far as he knew, there was nothing equivalent in the wizarding world.

He had never heard nor read of a wizard or a witch who felt sorry for doing something wrong, and who later regretted it and went to the person they'd hurt and asked the victim to forgive them -- and he had read all of the wizarding history books in his mother's possession.

Moreover, who decided what was wrong? Wouldn't it only be "wrong" in the opinion of the person who was the victim? The other party would believe they were "right"; indeed, they could only be successful in casting the spell, charm, or curse if they believed they were justified in doing so.

Severus almost laughed at the idea of a wizard or witch trying to cast a spell or curse if that wizard or witch believed they were wrong to do so...it was absurd.

Nevertheless, perhaps one _could_ later come to regret having done something that at the time one believed was right. Severus supposed such a thing could be possible, but at the moment, he could not imagine such a scenario. There were plenty of people who had done him wrong who deserved to be cursed; they would never come to ask his forgiveness, and he would never contemplate requesting theirs.

And here was this lovely woman, someone who did not even know them, giving them iced tea and teaching them how to knit and crochet. What could _she_ possibly have to atone for? Severus could not imagine her ever doing something wrong to someone who did not deserve it. Rather, there must be many people who should be coming to her to apologize and ask forgiveness.

Then a thought occurred to Severus.

"Ma'am?" he asked tentatively. Miriam stopped knitting and looked at him.

"I know it's early, but we won't be here after tomorrow," Severus began. "And I haven't emptied my pockets into a stream or dipped apples into honey...but I want to apologize to you for staring at your arm earlier."

_Thuggada-thump. Thuggada-thump. Whoosh-whoosh. Whoosh-whoosh._

The only sound was that of the washers and dryers, and the eerie music of the _Dark Shadows_ closing theme.

Steve and Angel had whipped their heads around to stare at Severus when they'd heard his statement. Yesmina had a mortified look on her face, and Azalea's eyes were almost popping out of her head as she glared at him.

DeWard and Dawn looked confused, but aware that something seemed to be wrong. Only Free continued to crochet as if nothing had happened.

Miriam and Esther glanced at each other with a look of amused surprise.

Severus felt a sharp pain in his shin again.

"_Ow!_" he exclaimed, as Azalea bugged her eyes even wider at him even.

Miriam grinned and put her hand on Azalea's arm.

"You make him all black and blue, you keep doin' that," she admonished. Azalea looked angry and ashamed at the same time.

"Well he bein' _rude_, ma'am!" Azalea explained, which made both Miriam and Esther laugh aloud, much to Azalea's consternation.

"_What?_" Azalea demanded.

"_You're_ the _last_ one should be talkin' about anyone bein' rude!" Angel retorted, which garnered him an angry glare from her.

"Do you know what this is?" Miriam asked quietly, holding her arm out so that the tattoo was more clearly visible. All the children were silent.

"It is my understanding that it is a mark you were given by people called Nazis," Severus admitted.

"Do you know who the Nazis were?" Miriam asked.

"They were fascists, man," Free stated, having stopped crocheting.

"We kicked their butts in the Second World War!" Angel proudly exclaimed.

Severus did not know what the word 'fascist' meant, and the fact that the Nazis' collective rear end was kicked in the second of two world wars also did not impart any meaningful information to him.

"No, ma'am," he admitted. "I don't know who they were."

All the children were silent. Even Free looked surprised. Azalea glared at Severus and then turned to Miriam.

"I'm sorry, ma'am!" she exclaimed. "My _friend_ ain't from here, he _ignorant_ that way!"

She again glared at Severus, who had no idea why she was so mad and he was starting to get annoyed with her. He was especially upset that she had called him 'ignorant'.

He stuck his tongue out at her.

He did not know why he did it; it just made him feel better.

Yesmina stared at him with her mouth open; Severus heard Angel and Steve snickering behind his back.

Azalea looked like a bucket of ice water had just been dumped on her; but she then composed herself and turned back to Miriam.

"You see what I _mean_, ma'am!" she stated, glancing back at Severus. "He just _ignorant_!"

She turned and faced Severus, glaring at him with her hands on her hips. Before he could say anything, he saw Azalea's eyes focus past his shoulder, and heard Steve start to giggle.

"Don't _you_ start too, assaaaAngel!" she exclaimed, catching herself mid-expletive. Severus heard Angel giggling and turned smiling towards Angel and Steve.

"Assahangel!" Steve giggled. Angel started laughing so hard, he fell off his chair onto the floor, with Steve following.

Severus turned back around in his seat sniggering also, stopping when he saw Azalea's stony face. However, he could not help but notice that Miriam and Esther themselves both seemed to be working hard at not laughing aloud.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, you see we got some ignorant _boys_ with us!" Azalea apologized. "They ain't got no _manners_!"

"Yes, boys often don't have manners," Esther agreed. "It is up to us _ladies_ to show them the right way to act!"

She gave a knowing glance at Miriam, who returned her smile. Azalea sat up taller in her chair, brushing her tank top and then folding her hands in front of her on the table.

"Yes, ma'am," she agreed. "We _ladies_ are naturally more _refined_ than _boys_!"

DeWard buried his face in Dawn's shoulder; Dawn for her part just smiled broadly. One side of Free's mouth rose up in a half-smile.

Severus heard raucous laughter behind him, but he dared not join in. Instead, he worked to establish a reasonably serious demeanor, and turned to Miriam.

"I am apparently just an ignorant, unrefined, foreign _boy_, ma'am," he started, which caused Angel and Steve to laugh even harder. "But I never learned about the Nazis. Would you tell me about them, and why they gave you that mark?"

The room again got silent. Miriam reached over and patted Severus' arm.

"There is a saying," she said to him softly. "'The only stupid question is the question that isn't asked'!"

She sat back in her seat, and then looked over at Angel and Steve.

"You boys must be thirsty! Come, there's some tea here for you!"

Perhaps because they didn't want to be seen as being more ignorant and unrefined as they had already been deemed by Azalea, the two boys this time demurely came over and accepted the offered tea with thanks.

"So, where you came from, they didn't teach you about the war?" Miriam inquired, again looking at Severus. He thought a few moments before answering.

"I know that there was some war that mug..." he began, catching himself mid-word. "That some people fought a long time ago, before I was born. I heard my father and others talk about it. England was at war with Germany, if that is what you are talking about. But I didn't really pay that much attention, sorry."

Azalea snorted in disgust.

"The Nazis _were_ Germany!" she exclaimed. "Even _I_ know _that_!"

"They were very bad men," Yesmina added, and then lowered her voice. "They did bad things to people. I saw it on TV..."

"Bad things?" Severus asked.

"They took people they didn't like," Steve answered, "sent them to concentration camps, made them work as slaves or starved them to death or..."

His voice trailed off, and he glanced at Miriam and Esther with an embarrassed look.

"Yes, the Nazis were very bad men," Miriam agreed. "Their leader was a man called Adolph Hitler. They came to power in Germany 36 years ago at a time when there was much hardship in the country. They promised that they would make things better, and many people believed them...or wanted to."

Miriam picked up her knitting and resumed working on it.

"The Nazis, they have a belief that the only true German is what they call a racially pure German," she continued.

This piqued Severus' interest; some in the wizarding community believed in racial purity, indeed the word "mudblood" was an epithet used to describe Muggles, those without magickal abilities. His mother claimed to be from a pureblood family, but his father being a Muggle meant that he, Severus, was not racially pure but a half-blood.

"To them," Miriam continued, "that meant only what they called 'Aryan'. One had to have certain color hair, certain color eyes, a certain shape to the head and nose..."

Severus somehow knew that he did not fit this mysterious Aryan profile, but he had to know for sure.

"What were they?" he asked. "I mean, what were the rules?"

"_You_ don't pass!" Azalea spat out.

"None of us do," Angel interjected. "Except for Steve and Dawn...they're light enough."

DeWard stared critically at Dawn, who only looked confused. Severus noticed that Steve actually looked ashamed.

"But the Nazis, they don't like Negroes," Angel added, "or anyone who too dark!"

Well, that confirmed it for Severus. His hair was black, and without further inquiry, he just knew that his nose would not have passed Nazi muster.

"And Yesmina, here," Esther interjected. "She would have been all right with the Nazis..."

"No I wouldn't!" Yesmina complained, to Esther and Miriam's surprise.

"She's Puerto Rican, like me," Angel explained. "I don't think Nazis liked us, either!"

"But she could have passed..." Esther stated softly.

"That like down south where I come from!" Azalea interjected, more subdued than she had been a short time before. "They got laws against race mixin', laws what define how black you are. My grandpappy's father, they say he somethin' called an okeroon...he look white as you, but the law say he black. Even had an official paper saying he that!"

Severus frowned.

"And then what?" he asked Azalea. "What happened when your great-grandfather was judged to be a...what was that word?"

"Okeroon," Azalea answered. "I think it mean he one-eight black, rest is white, but the law said he all black. That why they make up the official paper saying that, so he couldn't try to pass for white."

"And if he had?" Severus continued. Angel gave a soft punch to his back. Severus sighed...he knew he was going to end up black and blue all over before the day was through.

"They come take him away," Azalea said softly. "If it somethin' like eatin' in a white-only place, or disrespectin' a white person, they just beat him and throw him in jail. If't somethin' worse, like if he pass for white and got with a white woman, and then they found out he a okeroon, then the Klan they come get him in the middle of the night and beat him and put a noose around his neck and hang him..."

Miriam and Esther both paused a beat in their needlework, but then resumed their work without a word.

"But it okay, he marry my great granny, there no question she black!" Azalea added.

"That's stupid!" Severus exclaimed. "I mean, why would anyone _care_ how white or not he was?"

"Oh, down there, they care!" Azalea answered. "They _always_ cared! Some still do."

"You see, Severus," Miriam interrupted, "that's how hate is. Hate is _always_ stupid."

"I'm _not_ a Nazi!" Dawn exclaimed; DeWard had been eyeing her suspiciously ever since Angel had said that she and Steve would have been acceptable to the Nazis.

Dawn turned to her brother.

"Steve, we _aren't_ Nazis!" she whined. "_Tell_ him!"

"As far from it as you can _get_!" Steve answered in a voice that Severus thought sounded strangely emotional. Steve picked up his sister, who was starting to cry, and hugged her.

"I know for a fact that _I_ would have been one of the _first_ ones the Nazis arrested!" Steve told her, snuggling his nose into the nape of her neck so that her tears turned to laughter. "And I know _you_ would give any Nazi so much trouble, they wouldn't like _you_, either!"

"I'd poke them in their eye!" Dawn announced. She turned to glare at DeWard. "See! We're _not_ Nazis!"

"I didn't say you were!" DeWard defended himself, but Severus suspected that something more had gone on between the two for Dawn to react as she had.

Steve sat down with his sister in his lap, hugging her to him. Dawn glared at DeWard and then turned her back on him to look towards the table where the others were sitting. DeWard looked disconsolate.

"The Nazis wouldn't like me for more than just being Puerto Rican," Yesmina interrupted. Everyone turned towards her.

"They didn't like sick people," she stated softly. "I saw it on that television show. They killed people who were defective. They would have killed me."

Severus was shocked. Was there _any_ group of people these Nazis liked?

"These Nazis, they would take people like your friends," Miriam stated, as if reading Severus' mind. "But especially, they'd take Jews like me."

"But _why_?" Severus asked. Miriam shrugged.

"We are a group of people that many people already hate," she explained. "The Nazis, they blamed many things on the Jews. First, they made people wear symbols on their coats showing who they were -- Jews had to wear yellow stars, others pink triangles..."

Severus wondered what group wore pink triangles, but Miriam did not seem disposed to explain.

"Then they would round the people up," she continued, staring at her hands as she knitted. "They would tell us to pack only what we could carry. They said that they were moving us to villages where we would work..."

A slight bitterness had crept into Miriam's voice.

"They took us to the train station and herded us into cattle cars, just like we was animals," she stated. "So many people, you couldn't sit or lay down. And just a bucket in the corner for a toilet. Three days and nights we traveled that way!"

She paused as she continued to knit. No one dared interrupt her.

"Finally, we stopped. We were at a place called Auschwitz. They took us off the train and made us get into lines, men in one line, women and children in another. That is the last I ever saw of my husband and my brother..."

Severus' thoughts froze. Something just would not let his mind process what Miriam had just said.

"Then the Nazis divided my line, told some go one way, the rest of us another. And that was the last time I saw my mother and sisters. And my baby girl. The Nazis took her away from me. And that is when they gave me this."

She stopped knitting and held up her arm, showing her tattoo.

Severus thought that everything must have come to a stop. The world could not still be rotating on its axis. Time could not still be passing. He could not still be breathing.

"Six million, Severus," Miriam stated softly. "Six million they killed, they poisoned in their gas chambers, they starved or worked to death, and threw the bodies into their ovens or into mass graves."

Six million. Severus' brain was still locked, but he knew that six million was a huge number.

"_No one must forget!"_ Miriam exclaimed with surprising forcefulness. She looked from Severus to each child in turn. "_You_ must learn about it, and teach your own children! It must _never_ happen again!"

"They killed your baby?" Azalea gasped. Severus saw that she was extremely pale.

Miriam looked at her, and softly grasped her hand and squeezed it.

"Yes," she answered simply. "I was a young wife, and a new mother. My little girl was only a few months old. They took away my whole family, both my old family and my new..."

Azalea made a strange sound; to Severus it sounded like some wild thing in pain. Azalea pulled her hand out of Miriam's grasp, jumped up from her seat, and went running into the restroom with a sob, locking the door behind her.

Miriam looked crestfallen.

"I didn't mean to make her so upset!" she explained. "I'm sorry if I upset any of you! I just wanted you to know what this meant."

She again raised her arm with the tattoo on it; she then stood up and gathered up their used glasses, placing them on the tray with the now empty pitcher, and carried it into the back.

Esther continued to crochet without saying a word. But even Free seemed stunned.

"That, like, brings it all home, man," she said quietly. "What assholes Nazis were...still are..."

Severus raised an eyebrow and stared at Free. Free never swore.

"I _told_ you we aren't Nazis!" Dawn whispered at DeWard.

However, the sound of Azalea sobbing in the restroom could be heard by everyone. Yesmina got up without a word, went over, and knocked softly on the restroom door, leaning on it and saying something to Azalea that Severus could not hear.

Free got up and joined Yesmina, also saying something that Severus could not hear.

Eventually, Azalea unlocked the door, but rather than coming out, she dragged both Yesmina and Free in with her and relocked the door. Severus could hear her sobbing but not what she was saying to the others, nor what they said to her in return to try to comfort her.

However, Severus knew that unless Azalea told them what she had confessed to him Sunday night, that there was no real comfort that they could give her.

At that moment, Annie and Benjie arrived, Annie carrying Judy in a sort of a sling that Annie wore draped over her neck and shoulders.

"Hey kids! What's up?" Annie called out. "Thought we'd bring the van over to help bring the laundry back!"

No one answered.

Miriam came out from the back at that moment, carrying another tray of iced tea. Annie and Benjie looked at the devastated countenances of the children's faces, and took notice of the sobbing occurring in the restroom.

"What's wrong?" Benjie demanded.

"It's my fault," Miriam apologized, putting the tea down. "The children were interested in this..."

She indicated her tattoo; Severus saw that Annie looked uncomfortable looking at it, but was surprised to see Benjie grow pale.

"I may have said too much about what happened to my family and got them upset..."

Annie glanced at Benjie, and then took Judy out of the sling and handed her to her father and then went to the restroom. She softly knocked on the door, and Severus could hear her asking to be let in.

He was not surprised that Azalea immediately unlocked the door, grabbed Annie by the hand, and dragged her into the restroom.

"How many people can fit in there?" Angel muttered under his breath, but at that moment both Yesmina and Free exited the room. Yesmina looked concerned, but Severus was surprised to see that Free actually looked upset. She said something to Yesmina that Severus could not hear, then both girls sat together by DeWard, folding their hands in their laps and not saying another word.

Azalea could be heard crying, and wailing about a lost baby. Annie's answers could not be made out, but her tone was soothing and seemed to help, as Azalea's sobs slowly subsided.

Benjie sat down in the seat Azalea had been using, Judy in his arms. Miriam took her own seat, reflexively reaching out and stroking Judy on her cheek. The sleeping baby stirred but did not wake up.

"This is beautiful, ma'am," Benjie observed, gazing at the runner Miriam was knitting.

"Miriam. Call me Miriam. Thank you," she answered, gathering up the work and putting it into her bag on the floor. "She's so small..."

"Just her second day here!" Benjie chuckled, rocking Judy in his arms. "She surprised all of us; she wasn't supposed to come until October!"

"She's beautiful!" Esther exclaimed, putting down her crocheting. "What is her name?"

"Judith Guinevere Beth Love Silverstein," Benjie answered proudly.

"_Oy!_ Such a big name for such a little thing!" Miriam exclaimed.

"We just call her Judy," Severus interjected. Yesmina had come over and sat back down next to him, and Free stood behind her, both acting like Judy's guardian angels.

DeWard came over and stood by Benjie, as much to be with him and Judy as to put some distance between himself and Dawn's continued glares.

"Can I hold her?" Miriam asked quietly. Benjie looked surprised, but then handed his daughter to her. Judy stirred, and then clasped Miriam's finger as the woman fussed with Judy's outfit. Miriam gazed lovingly at the infant, and Severus noticed that the woman's eyes were moist.

"Oh, she is _so_ precious!" Esther exclaimed, getting up from her seat and coming over to stand by Miriam. Benjie stood up and made Esther take his seat.

Severus watched the scene as if he were separate from it, like it was something he was watching on the television.

Judy _was_ precious, he realized. She was so..._new_. And unlike him, she had parents who both loved each other, and wanted and adored her. Bad stuff like what Azalea, Angel, Yesmina and DeWard had happen to them would not happen to Judy.

Moreover, at that moment he also realized that Annie and Benjie were more than two nice adults who had taken a bunch of strange kids under their wing; they were now their parents. Annie was at that moment being a mother to Azalea. Benjie was the loving father none of them had ever had.

This meant that Judy was Severus' younger sister. He smiled to himself at this thought. He now had a baby sister. He was now a big brother. He now had someone who needed him, who he would need to look out for and protect.

He looked over at Steve, who was still holding a pouting Dawn, and understood. He turned back around and leaned towards Judy in Miriam's arms, stroking the infant's arm and rubbing his nose on her neck between her ear and shoulder as he had seen Steve do with Dawn.

Judy opened her eyes as if surprised, and then reflexively grabbed Severus' nose and turning her head, put her lips around the end of it and started to suck vigorously.

This was the last thing Severus had expected, but he did not pull away. He heard everyone start to chuckle.

"She's going to be pretty disappointed as soon as she realizes nothing's coming out," Benjie laughed. Severus glanced up at him with a questioning look, but he still did not pull away from Judy.

"She thinks you're her mother," Miriam chuckled. At first, Severus did not understand,

but then what they were saying dawned on him. This coincided with Judy starting to suck even harder so that it actually hurt. Severus carefully pried his nose loose from her mouth and sat back up sheepishly. He could feel his face getting red.

Everyone was looking at his nose and starting to laugh, even Free.

"_What?_" he demanded.

"You, like, have a _hicky_ on your nose, man!" Free observed.

Yesmina took a mirror out of her bag and handed it to Severus.

He had never heard the word "hicky" before, but he assumed the purplish-red spot at the end of his nose was what was being referenced.

He handed the mirror back to Yesmina. Of all the times in his life that he was made to look foolish, this had to be one towards the top of the list. But for some reason he did not mind. Much.

It _was_ funny. He could not deny it.

He tried not to laugh. He looked at Angel, who seemed to be trying not to laugh also.

"There's _so_ many things I could say right now, bro'!" he exclaimed, turning and going to sit by Steve and Dawn. Severus rubbed his nose.

"It'll fade," Benjie told him.

"Esther, go in back and get him some ice," Miriam instructed.

Esther came back with some ice cubes wrapped in a paper towel, and Severus was just putting it on his nose when Annie and Azalea emerged from the restroom.

To Severus, Azalea seemed more than just quiet and subdued...there seemed to be something missing. Something that made Azalea "Azalea" was gone.

Annie had her arm around the girl's shoulders, and guided her back to the table. Benjie looked at his wife questioningly, and they exchanged knowing glances, but Annie didn't say anything.

Benjie stood up and put his arm around Azalea's shoulders, and guided her into the seat.

Azalea sat down meekly, staring blankly as if she did not realize other people were around. However, after a few moments, she glanced up at Severus, and a flicker of light came back into her eyes.

"What happened to your nose?" she asked.

"Free said it's something called a hicky," Severus explained, taking the ice away from his nose to show her. "Judy did it to me..."

He knew that he looked very foolish and silly. He also knew that that was what Azalea needed at this moment.

And it worked. As Annie guffawed, Severus could see the fire come back into Azalea's eyes, and her aura resumed its corona of flames.

"Why you do that?" Azalea demanded.

"Why don't you ask why _Judy_ did that?" Severus retorted, putting the ice back on his nose.

"Because _she_ a baby doin' what a baby do!" Azalea responded. "They grab whatever stick out and try to eat! _Anyone_ know that!"

"I didn't," Severus mumbled.

"She must be pretty hungry by the look of it!" Azalea observed. "She gave you a good one!"

"Maybe she was just kissing him," Yesmina stated, but the smile on her face indicated to Severus that she was joking. Perhaps.

"If that's the case," Benjie interjected, looking at Annie and laughing, "we're going to have to keep a close eye on our daughter in another 13 years or so!"

"As long as she's the one giving them and not getting them, I won't worry too much," Annie responded as Miriam stood up and handed Judy to her.

"I'll feed her out in the van," Annie stated, looking around. "It's a little more private there."

She bounced Judy in her arms as the infant had started to fuss. Judy wasn't crying as much as making a series of short coughing noises, but it was obvious that the infant would soon make her annoyance loudly known at being fooled.

Annie carried Judy out of the laundromat, followed by Yesmina and Free. Azalea took one more look at Severus, laughed as she shook her head, and then followed the others.

Dawn scrambled out of her brother's lap, gave DeWard one last haughty glare, and stomped out of the laundromat to join Annie and the others.

"You plan to raise her in the faith?" Miriam inquired quietly, fixing Benjie with a piercing stare. Esther looked slightly embarrassed, returned to her seat, and resumed her crocheting.

Benjie looked nonplussed at the question. He sighed, shrugged his shoulders, and sat down at the table again, running his fingers through his hair. He then looked up at Miriam.

"Neither my wife or I are particularly religious," he answered, but Severus noted there was an apologetic tone to his voice.

Miriam made a dismissive gesture.

"Your family, what do they think?"

Benjie smiled sadly.

"I haven't talked to my mom and dad for a couple of years now," he confessed. "Or they haven't talked to me...I guess it's sort of mutual..."

"They didn't like that you married a _shiksa_?"

Benjie chuckled.

"It actually started well before the shiksa came along!" he admitted. "We...my parent's and me, we...well, we just stopped seeing many things the same way..."

"And your wife? She doesn't go to church?"

"No, not any more," Benjie answered. "She'd stopped going long before I met her. Her family's not too happy with her, either. Her mother, because Annie stopped being a Catholic, her father because Annie decided to be an artist instead of a teacher...and her whole family now, because she married me..."

Miriam sighed.

"And your family...they are not happy with _you_, either, for marrying Annie..."

She said it as a statement of fact, rather than as a question.

"Yeah," Benjie answered. "Like I said, we hardly got along before, but me marrying out of the faith was the final straw. I've been officially disowned..."

Miriam again made a dismissive gesture.

"_Call them!_" she demanded. "Write them a letter, if you're too afraid to talk to them! Send them a picture of Judy; let them know that they are grandparents!"

Benjie looked doubtful.

"Your parents, they are made of stone?" Miriam demanded. "Their hearts perhaps are missing?"

Benjie laughed sardonically.

"No...no...they aren't stone. They _do_ have hearts..."

"Then they want to know they have a granddaughter! Let them see her! Sure, they'll still kvetch at you, they might not treat your wife with respect...but let your daughter know she has grandparents who love her! Same for your wife! Make her contact _her_ family; let them know about your daughter!"

Miriam clutched Benjie's arm.

"And raise your daughter in a religion! If you raise her a Jew, fine! Or raise her Catholic! Or a Buddhist or a...a Mormon, or whatever! Just raise her to believe in God, in something greater than herself!"

Benjie stared at Miriam; Severus noticed that both had tears in their eyes.

"Thank you," Benjie answered, standing up. "It's getting late, and we need to be getting back to our camp..."

"The children, they said you are staying at the state forest up the road?" Esther inquired, not raising her eyes from her crocheting.

"Yes, it's free on weekdays, which fits our budget!" Benjie laughed.

Esther just nodded and continued working. Benjie turned and picked up a couple of bags of laundry and headed towards the door, followed by Angel and Steve who'd done the same thing.

Severus stood up, still holding the paper towels with the now dripping ice to his nose, and took hold of his bag containing the aluminum pop tops.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said to Miriam, handing her knitting needles and crochet hooks back. She waved him off.

"You keep them, and the yarn I gave you!" she smiled. "You need to make that armor to protect your legs!"

"Thank you!" Severus exclaimed, putting the yarn and what he'd already made into the bag, and the needles and hook into the pocket he had his wand in.

"And thank you too, ma'am," he added, turning to Esther. "You have been very kind to us!"

Esther and Miriam exchanged cryptic looks, and just smiled at Severus, and at DeWard, who was having a problem trying to carry a very large bag of laundry. Severus reached over and grabbed one end of the bag with one hand, and dragged his bag with the other.

As he and DeWard made their way towards the door, Benjie, Angel and Steve came back in to get more of the bags. However, as they came further into the laundromat, all three suddenly stopped and faced the television.

Severus had not been paying any attention to the television, but now noticed that a news program was on. It was showing images of destroyed buildings in Mississippi; Severus heard the word "Camille" mentioned, and realized that the report must be about the hurricane the others had told him about yesterday, and which had been briefly shown on the 3 o'clock news update.

Whole houses were destroyed; some seemed to have totally disappeared. A woman on the television was seen to be pointing to a pile of debris and screaming that it was her house.

Benjie looked from the television to the four boys.

"That's where her mother lives," he told them. "Don't say anything to her, let Annie and me handle it..."

The boys just nodded their heads without saying a word. Severus and DeWard headed toward the door, as Angel and Steve gathered a couple of bags apiece.

As Benjie picked up the rest of the laundry, he turned to the two women.

"Thank you...for everything..."

Severus looked back and saw the two women smiling, and then waving at them as they left.

Annie was sitting in the passenger seat feeding Judy. Yesmina, Free, and even Dawn and Azalea helped to lift the bags into the back of the van. But when Dawn saw DeWard, she stuck her nose in the air, sat on a large duffle bag of laundry behind Annie's seat, and refused to acknowledge his presence.

Severus noticed how dejected DeWard looked and gave him a pat on the back. DeWard looked at Severus, and then laughed at the hicky at the end of his nose and climbed inside the back of the van.

However, they did not leave immediately. Benjie seemed desperate to find a cassette he was sure he had. He looked in the glove compartment and under the seats, and finally found what he was looking for in a beat-up paper bag.

As he started the minivan, he placed the cassette in a tape player and placed it between the seats. Annie stared at her husband as a song began playing, but said nothing to him. Benjie was silent for the rest of the drive back to the state forest.

_This land is mine  
God gave this land to me  
This brave and ancient land to me  
And when the morning sun  
Reveals her hills and plain  
Then I see a land  
Where children can run free_

_So take my hand  
And walk this land with me  
And walk this lovely land with me  
Though I am just a man  
When you are by my side  
With the help of God  
I know I can be strong_

_Though I am just a man  
When you are by my side  
With the help of God  
I know I can be strong_

_To make this land our home  
If I must fight  
I'll fight to make this land our own  
Until I die  
This land is mine_

_**THE THEME FROM EXODUS**  
1960_

* * *


	16. Chap 14 I've Gotta Be Me Aug19Aug20'69

* * *

_I would like to give credit to KarentheUnicorn, and her excellent SOUL WEAVER story on this site, for the inspiration for the "magickal critters" introduced in this chapter_

_  
_

* * *

In the back of the minivan, Severus' nose continued to be a source of entertainment.

The girls just giggled when they looked at it, even the usually calm and serene Free.

DeWard would use the opportunity to attempt to get back into Dawn's good graces, but she would immediately stop giggling and turn her nose up in the air and look out the window.

Steve whispered something into Angel's ear that caused Angel to fall onto the floor, rolling in laughter. Severus endeavored to maintain a modicum of dignity, but knew it was going to be impossible until the mark on his nose faded.

"You could at least give me the courtesy of letting _me_ know what was so funny!" Severus complained, throwing the wet paper towels with the now slivers of ice at Angel, hitting him in the face.

This actually had the opposite effect than the one intended; it again exposed Severus' nose, and everyone laughed at what to them was hilariously funny. In addition, since it was very hot in the van Angel welcomed the cool wetness of the wet paper towels and used them to wipe his face and neck.

But he then sat up and scooted over to Severus' side, glancing at the girls and then cupped his hands over Severus' ears.

"Steve says it looks like you have a breast on your face!" Angel whispered, sitting back up and giggling.

"And it does!" he laughed, without bothering to try to whisper. He then fell back on the floor, laughing.

Severus stared at Steve, who just smiled and shrugged.

"It _does_!" he said sheepishly.

Severus was trying to decide how he should feel about this, when Angel again scooted over to him and cupped his hands around his ear.

"With your tan, it look like _Azalea's_ breast!"

"_What!?_" Severus demanded, turning his head to look at Angel, but then reflexively looking over to the girls. He immediately looked away in embarrassment when his eyes met Azalea's.

Angel was still laughing, but now Azalea had the idea that something had been said about her.

"What you tell him, Angel?' she demanded, but Angel just continued to roll on the floor laughing and shook his head. Azalea then focused on Severus with a look that was a mixture of anger and pleading.

"What that asshole say?" she demanded. However, there was no way that Severus could answer that question, and so he just sat and dumbly stared at her.

Azalea kicked Angel. Hard.

"_Oww!_" he exclaimed, rolling out of her range and then climbing on top of some bags opposite her, putting Steve between himself and the girls.

"We were just saying how funny Sev's nose looks!" Angel lied.

"Yeah, we _all_ know it look funny! Rest of us ain't goin' around whisperin' and keepin' secrets 'bout it!" Azalea retorted.

"It's, like, funny, man," Free interrupted, looking at Severus. "Like, Judy mistook your nose for a breast, and then she made it look like a breast, man..."

The look on Yesmina and Azalea's face betrayed the fact that they had not thought of that before now. In addition, when Dawn forgot her feud with DeWard and joined him in staring intently at Severus' nose, it showed that they too hadn't seen his nose in that way, either.

However, Angel and Steve were both giggling hysterically. Annie shifted in her seat to look in the back.

"You know, honey," she said to Severus, "it really _does_ sorta look that way!"

Severus clamped both his hands over his nose. This had gone too far. This was not funny anymore. He wondered if it would be wrong to be angry with someone who was not even completely two days old yet.

As they pulled into the state forest, Severus could feel his face getting red; he hoped that would help camouflage the mark on his nose, but then he realized that the mark would probably just get darker, too.

He felt like crying, but fought the sensation.

The others perhaps realized that they'd crossed a line, as nothing else was said to Severus as Benjie negotiated his way on the narrow road and into the campsite they'd taken earlier in the day.

It was now early evening, and the others who had remained behind had gotten dinner cooking on the fireplaces around the site. Once Benjie had pulled into their spot and parked the van, everyone piled out, the children eagerly going in search of something to eat.

Only Severus did not move to leave the van. Neither did Azalea. Severus looked at her, his hands still clamped over his nose.

"Come here," she said quietly, patting the bag she was sitting on.

"You're just going to make fun of me!" Severus complained nasally. Azalea put her hands on her hips.

"If you don't get your skinny ass over here right now, Severus Snape, then yes I will make fun of yo' big ass nose with it's big ass hicky _all fuckin' night_ and not stop 'til we go to sleep so's you dream all night o' big fat ass hickies on yo' big fat ass nose!"

Severus knew that she would do it, also.

"Since you put it that way," he sighed, taking his hands down for the first time and coming over to sit by her side.

Azalea took his chin in her hand and turned his face from side to side, examining his nose critically. She then took her handbag and started rummaging through its contents.

"What are you going to do?" Severus asked with some trepidation, as Azalea pulled out a small flat, round object and twisted off its top. Inside was something creamy,  
the color of coffee with just a touch of cream.

"Look straight at me," Azalea said quietly, turning Severus' head so that he faced her. She dipped the ring finger of her other hand into the unknown substance, and then lightly patted it on the tip of Severus' nose.

"What _is_ that?" Severus demanded. "Is that some sort of medicine?"

" Concealer," Azalea answered distractedly, lightly tapping and wiping at the tip of Severus' nose with her finger. She paused and turned Severus' head from side to side again, critically examining his nose in the remaining light.

She repeated the ritual, adding a little more concealer to the tip of his nose. She blended it with a soft, gentle touch, like a sculptor working to create a bust out of clay.

"This stuff's really good, it don't come off if you sweat," she explained softly. "Least not if you don't sweat too much. But we'll have to put more on if you go swimmin' or wash yo' face and tomorrow mornin', it'll rub off when you sleep..."

When she was satisfied with the result, she again rummaged in her bag and retrieved her compact. She opened it and patted the soft pad in some powder that was the same color as the concealer, which was to say the same color as Azalea's skin.

"Good thing you got that fine tan!" she observed as she patted his nose with the puff. "Else this wouldn't work. This here will help set the concealer..."

The puff was soft and had a faint pleasant scent. Severus would have gladly just laid back and let Azalea pat his whole body with it all night.

"What's concealer for?" Severus asked as Azalea finished powdering his nose.

"Marks," Azalea answered, throwing the concealer and powder back into her bag, and retrieving her mirror.

"Marks?" Severus asked. Azalea looked at him somberly.

"Hickies," she answered. "I got it just for that. Sometimes, some of those men my aunt make me be with, they give me those. And I couldn't go to school with them showing, the kids made fun of me..."

She lowered her eyes, and Severus saw that she was about to cry. Before Severus could say anything, Azalea looked back up at him.

"I'm sorry I laughed at you before!" she exclaimed, a tear running down her cheek. "I _know_ how it feels, to have kids laugh at you havin' hickies! I shouldn't've laughed at you, Sev!"

And at that moment, Severus understood what Miriam had been talking about earlier. Why someone could do something, and later regret it and need to make atonement. Because often one did things without thinking about what the consequences would be, or how it would ultimately affect others.

And he understood also that the wronged person needed to forgive the wrongdoer, that it was sort of a transaction that would not be complete otherwise. It was a type of cleansing for both parties. No wonder part of the ritual involved casting objects into moving water.

"It's okay, Azalea," Severus told her, taking her hand and squeezing it. "I forgive you. As I hope you forgive _me_ anything I've done or might ever do to hurt you!"

Azalea looked at him in surprise.

"You are one _strange_ boy, Severus Snape!" she said softly. But Severus refused to let go of her hand.

"_Swear!_" Severus demanded, squeezing her hand. "Swear that you forgive me, and will always forgive me, if I do anything to hurt you!"

Azalea stared at him, and then a glint came into her eye and she smiled broadly at him.

"I forgive you, Severus Snape, for anything bad you have ever done to me!" she laughed. "But for the future...well, you need to come ask _each_ time you do something bad, don't you go thinkin' you get off with one big ass blanket o' forgiveness!"

" But you _will_ forgive me if I ask?" Severus laughed, squeezing her hand again. Azalea rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Severus Snape, I will forgive you _when you ask_!" she laughed, and then held out her mirror.

"Take a look...what do you think?"

Severus took the mirror and examined his reflection.

While the mark at the end of his nose was not completely obliterated, it could only be seen from up close and if someone was specifically looking for it.

He smiled, and handed the mirror back to Azalea.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed. "This is wonderful! I thought I was going to be made fun of all evening!"

Azalea grinned, obviously pleased with her work and that Severus was also pleased with it.

"Okay, let's go find Angel!" she announced, putting her mirror in her bag and then opening the side door of the minivan. "I'll hold him down so's you can kick him for whatever he said earlier!"

" Actually, he was just passing on something _Steve_ had said," Severus revealed as he exited the vehicle. "So it really should be Steve who gets kicked."

" Really?" Azalea responded, and then shrugged. "Oh well, he too big. Probably kick back, too..."

Severus could see that the vans, buses, and automobiles were parked in a circle like the night before, and that most everyone was sitting or lying in the center around a campfire.

However, food was being cooked at stone fireplaces that were placed at intervals around the campsite, and it was to these that he and Azalea gravitated.

At the first fireplace, they got hamburgers and hotdogs with potato chips and cans of soda. They then moved onto the second fireplace, where they got barbecued chicken thighs with grilled corn and wedges of watermelon.

Azalea complained between bites that it was not _real_ barbecue, just chicken with some sauce cooked on it. She admitted that it _was_ tasty, but that Severus would find out what _real_ barbecue was when they got to her grandmother's down south.

Severus just continued to eat without saying a word, but wondered after what he had seen on TV earlier that day, if anything remained standing down there.

He was glad when Azalea urged that they move on to the third fireplace where they found the Swanns in charge. Free, Yesmina, Angel and Steve were sitting at a picnic table nearby, gorging themselves.

Azalea looked critically at what the Swanns were cooking. Severus recognized potatoes and corn on one side of the grill, but was not sure what was being cooked on the other side...and by the look on Azalea's face, he knew that she also found it unfamiliar.

"What would you kids like?" Isaac asked, as he deftly tossed something on what looked to be a flat piece of steel that was atop the grate on the hottest part of the fireplace. There were also pots simmering, and in one, Severus recognized rice and beans similar to what he had been served at the Sarmientos.

The other pot had a mixture of things in it -- it was reddish, so Severus assumed it must have tomatoes in it, and he thought that he also saw finely diced meat, although he could not make out what else was in it. However, everything smelled delicious, and even though he had just eaten the equivalent of three meals, his stomach growled.

"Would you like some potatoes?" Isaac inquired. "Corn? Chili? Rice and beans? I can whip up some fajitas for you..."

"What's that?" Azalea asked.

"Fajitas?" Isaac responded. "They're a sort of sandwich -- I'm making chicken tonight. The meat's cut real thin and spices are put on it and then it's cooked real quick on the grill and wrapped in a hot tortilla. You can add things to it if you like, there's sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce and grated cheese, sliced tomatoes and lettuce on the table..."

"I'll have everything!" Severus demanded eagerly.

Isaac laughed and took a cardboard plate from a bag on the ground, and then proceeded to put a baked potato and an ear of corn on it.

"Would you like the chili on your potato?" he asked.

"ON the potato?" Severus responded. He was not sure how that would taste.

"It's really good!" Isaac suggested. "I eat it that way. You put some cheese on top of it too, some sour cream if you like..."

Isaac proceeded to take the foil off of the potato and then he squeezed it open, put it back on the plate, and dropped a ladle of chili on top of it. He then took some pieces of chicken out of what looked to be a marinade, and threw them on the steel plate, where they immediately sizzled.

He also put a handful of sliced onions and sliced peppers on to cook with the chicken. After a few minutes of deftly turning and tossing this mixture, he then took some round, flat bread from under a towel and cupped it in one hand while he scooped the chicken and vegetables into it. He then laid it on Severus' plate and handed it to him.

"Now what will _you_ have, young lady?" Isaac inquired, turning to Azalea.

"Everything _he_ has!" she exclaimed, greedily eyeing Severus' plate.

Normally Severus would have immediately headed to the picnic table to eat, leaving Azalea to wait for her own food. However, since she had been so nice to him and covered up the mark on his nose, he felt that it would not be right to just leave her.

So he stood there, waiting, the smells of the food almost too much to bear. But after a few minutes, Azalea had her own full plate, so they joined the others at the picnic table.

Severus' new nose did not go unnoticed, but he was grateful that once it was explained why the mark was no longer visible, that the whole thing seemed no longer interesting to the others.

Free explained to them what guacamole was, and what to put on their potatoes along with the chili and what went good with fajitas. She explained how she ate her corn on the cob with hot sauce on it.

Both Severus and Azalea tried that, but only Azalea liked it...she said it reminded her of the type of cooking they did down in Louisiana. However, Severus did not like how it made his lips and mouth burn.

"_This_ is what I'm talkin' 'bout!" Azalea exclaimed, her mouth full of fajita. "Why they not make this shit at the concert?"

" Probably too expensive to get enough meat for that many people," Angel suggested.

"Yeah, and remember a lot more people showed up than they'd planned for," Steve added.

"Yeah, but I don't see one bit o' broccoli here tonight, and these the same people what cooked there!" Azalea countered, wiping butter from her chin as she attacked her ear of corn.

"I'm not saying they can have a barbecue for a million people!" she continued, shoveling potato and chili into her mouth. "But they coulda done this potato shit, this good! And potatoes cheap! They coulda done a lot with potatoes!"

She then stopped her editorializing and did not speak another word until she'd cleaned her plate.

Severus thought that he had never felt so full in his life. He loosened his belt, but felt sure that his pants were going to burst. In fact, he was not sure that his stomach was not going to split his skin and spill out over the top of his jeans. Unzipping his pants would not be enough; it felt like his skin needed to be let out.

Eventually talk turned to the subject of washing up; they were all sweaty, and sticky from barbecue sauce, chili and melted butter.

There apparently was a visitors area that had a communal shower, but it was almost a mile away, and they would all have to take turns using it.

It was instead decided to hike the shorter distance to a nearby stream. The girls insisted on retrieving soap and towels before going, and the boys agreed to wait for them, but after a few minutes, they started walking slowly towards the stream, figuring the girls would catch up with them.

However, they got to the stream before the girls returned. There were small fish swimming in it, and Angel and Steve thought it would be great fun to chase after them and try to catch some, and so they both quickly disappeared downstream.

Severus took off his shirt and pants, sat by the edge of the stream and used his shirt as a washcloth, being careful not to get his face wet.

"There Severus, struttin' his stuff to the world again!"

Severus smiled at the sound of Azalea's voice, but he did not turn around.

"Where the other two?" she asked, coming to stand beside him, Yesmina and Free behind her.

"They ran away," Severus answered looking downstream, one side of his mouth jerking up.

"You scared 'em when you took your pants off!" Azalea laughed.

"Something like that," he smiled, taking his wet shirt and dripping water onto the back of his head. "Did you bring any shampoo?"

" Just my bar of olive oil Castile soap, you can wash your hair with that," she answered. "Don't you go getting your nose wet, though!"

" Someone will have to help me, then," Severus answered slyly. "I don't know how to wash my hair without getting my face wet."

" We'll help, man," Free volunteered, already having removed her clothes and starting to wade into the stream. "Shit, this is cold, man!"

That was only the second time Severus had ever heard Free swear.

Yesmina shyly removed her own clothing. Severus turned to face away so that she could wash in private.

"How are your bruises?" he asked her over his shoulder.

"Oh!" Yesmina answered. "I'd almost forgotten about them. They're almost all gone!"

" Well that's because _I_ am now covered in bruises!" Severus observed, inspecting his legs and arms, and one area on the side of his torso that he was not sure how it got there. He looked up at Azalea.

"I'm sorry for kicking you and giving you those bruises on your legs!" she exclaimed, throwing a face cloth at him. "But I didn't give you the ones on your arms or that one on your side, so don't be 'spectin' no apology from me for those!"

"Oooh, this _is_ cold!" Severus heard Yesmina exclaim. She and Free quickly washed as Azalea took off her clothes, but followed Severus' example and only sat by the stream and washed instead of trying to wade into it.

"My feet are actually _numb_!" Yesmina exclaimed, coming out of the water with Free and quickly drying herself. Severus noticed that Free did not stay undressed for long, either.

"Help me wash his hair," Azalea asked, as she rinsed out her own hair. "Don't want to wash the concealer off his nose..."

And so Severus soon found himself lying on his back, his head at the edge of the stream, as three pretty girls took turns wetting his hair, soaping it, and dipping his head into the stream to rinse it.

"You should see the look on your face, Sev!" Yesmina laughed.

"What?" Severus asked, his reverie interrupted by the question.

"You enjoying yourself too much!" Azalea answered, slapping his chest with the cold, wet facecloth.

"What's wrong with that?" he murmured, lying back.

However, at that moment they were interrupted by the sounds of loud splashing and singing coming upstream, and soon Angel and Steve came into view. When they spotted the girls, the two boys both looked like cats that had just eaten someone's pet canary.

They exchanged glances and then came over, obviously hiding something behind their backs.

"What you two assholes doin'?" Azalea demanded suspiciously. Perhaps because Azalea was a more formidable opponent, Angel and Steve turned on Yesmina and Free.

"Who'd like some _fish_?" they demanded, whipping their hands out from behind their backs and dangling some lucky catches in front of the girls, threatening to drop the fish down their dresses.

Yesmina squealed in terror and ran; Free also squealed and ran, but she was also laughing, so Severus did not think she was as bothered by it as Yesmina.

Steve went running after the girls, but Angel paused, looking from Azalea to Severus.

"Put some pants on, bro'!" Angel laughed, and then went running after the others, waving his fish.

Azalea looked at Angel's retreating back and then down at Severus. She picked up his pants and threw them at him, laughing.

"Yeah, put yo' pants on, bro'!"

Severus with some regret stood up, dried his hair, and then put his pants on. Squeals could be heard a short way off, as Angel and Steve still tormented Yesmina and Free.

"You wait here; I gotta go kick some butt, assholes scarin' my baby sister and my friend!"

Azalea stormed off, leaving Severus in somewhat of a daze.

He turned and gazed at the gurgling stream, and the small fish that could still be seen darting past.

He pulled out his wand, pointed it at a fish, and spoke a word that he remembered reading in one of his mother's books.

Nothing happened.

He aimed once again, uttered the spell, but again nothing happened.

He could hear Azalea cursing; shortly thereafter, Angel yelled out "_Ow! Goddammit_!" Then Steve screaming, "_No! Stop it!_", and then just high-pitched screaming but laughing at the same time, and Yesmina's and Free's cheering.

Severus pointed his wand at another fish, uttered the spell, but again nothing happened.

He sighed and put the wand away; he really was not all that sure he was saying it correctly anyway -- he had only read about the spell in his mother's book, he had never heard it uttered.

Moreover, even if he _was_ pronouncing it correctly, he had a suspicion it was usually used on a target that was not swimming in fast-moving, open water. Perhaps it was just a case of his aim being bad. He had no way of knowing.

He sighed and sat down on a log and thought about everything that had happened that day, everything that he had heard. It seemed that over the past two days and nights, he had learned more about how cruel people could be than he had ever imagined.

Until he would come to this country, he had thought that his own persecution at the hands of his father and classmates and neighborhood boys was unique to him. He now realized how naive he had been to think that -- it seemed Muggles had a history and a habit of systemic cruelty to others.

No wonder Wizardkind had separated itself from Muggle society.

And yet...he was now closer to a group of Muggles than he had ever been with anyone in his life, except for Lily. And to some extent his mother, but he and his mother had never revealed and shared mutual secrets and intimacies like these Muggle kids shared with him.

Something in the water caught his eye. At first, he thought that he might have imagined seeing it, that it perhaps was a trick of the moving water in the fading sunlight on a tired mind.

However, it happened again, stopping almost as quickly as he looked at it, so that he again questioned if it had really happened or was an optical illusion.

But the third time it happened, he was sure that it was real.

It looked like any number of the hundreds of other stones lining the bottom of the stream. Nevertheless, this one moved. _Against_ the current.

Sometimes it moved in a type of shuffling, writhing motion. Sometimes it flipped end-over-end. However, it would stop as often as it started, and Severus wondered if it knew he was watching it.

It _did_ seem to be moving in a deliberate manner. And in his direction.

Keeping his eye on the stone, Severus slowly pulled his wand out of his pocket. He aimed it at the strange stone, but before he could completely utter, "_Accio!_" the stone had moved.

He took aim once more.

"_Acci...!"_

But the stone again avoided his aim.

This was quite annoying. Severus _knew_ he could at least do the _Accio_ spell; it was one of the first things his mother had taught him. It was particularly useful when one wanted to acquire an item without having to enter a room one's drunk and combative father occupied. In fact, Severus could perform the _Accio _spell without a wand; he had done it successfully the first day in this country when he had gotten food out of vending machines.

He put the wand back into his pocket, and then pointed his finger at the now-still rock.

"_ACCIO!_" he yelled, but the stone just flipped over itself to escape. Severus sighed. He looked down at what seemed to be a normal stone on the stream's edge.

"_ACCIO!_" he demanded, pointing at the normal stone. Severus deftly caught it when it flew at him.

"Good!" Severus thought to himself. He had been afraid that perhaps somehow he had lost his magickal ability.

One side of Severus' mouth jerked up as he looked at the odd stone in the stream, which now seemed to be waiting for him.

He waded into the stream, keeping the strange rock in sight. However, he had only gone a foot or two when the stone moved away from him at an angle and then stopped. When he moved towards it, it again moved away, but at an opposite angle to the one it had just moved.

Severus anticipated correctly that the strange stone would move in the original direction when he made a third attempt to catch it, and it was with great satisfaction that he felt his hands close over the stone.

He lifted it out of the water and held it in one palm, the other hand hovering over it. He was not sure that it might not try to jump out of his hand like a frog, and he wanted to be ready for it.

But it just sat there. Like a stone.

He waded back to shore and examined it more closely. It indeed looked like any river stone -- light grey, rounded, and just big enough to fit in Severus' palm.

There was a strange indentation on what seemed to be the "top" of the stone that almost went through to the other side, and a line that ran from this indentation to one edge. It suggested a previous state of fluidity, as if the stone had wrapped itself into a circle before solidifying.

Severus wondered what force of nature would have caused such a mark on a stone.

He turned it over in his palm a few times, but nothing happened. He caressed it with his fingers and then rubbed it vigorously, but again nothing happened. He poked it with a sharp stick, and then hit it with another stone, but the one he had just caught just sat there like a rock.

He was beginning to think he had imagined seeing it move, when it bit him.

Not too very hard, it was more surprising to Severus than painful. He dropped the exasperating thing, and it started to flip end-over-end, moving back towards the stream.

"Oh, no you don't!" he exclaimed softly, grabbing it at the water's edge. It again sat placidly in his palm. He shoved it in his pocket and examined where it had bitten him on his palm. The skin was not broken, but there were tiny indentations in the skin.

Severus wondered what sort of creature he would just caught, and felt sure that it had to be a magickal one.

Azalea came back; she had apparently seen him putting something in his pocket.

"Whatcha find?" she asked.

"Just a rock," Severus answered, pulling it back out of his pocket. It did not move. "It looked interesting."

Azalea took it and turned it over and over, examining it, and Severus held his breath, wondering if it would bite her.

However, it was well behaved, and Azalea just huffed and handed it back to Severus, who put it back into his pocket.

"Where are the others?" Severus asked, gazing out over the stream at the last glow of the setting sun. "Or perhaps I should ask what you _did_ to them?"

He glanced slyly at Azalea out of the corner of his eye.

Azalea also was gazing at the setting sun. She smirked.

"They all headed back to camp..._after_ Angel and Steve got taught a lesson!"

"Oh?"

Azalea chuckled.

"Let's just say Angel don't like fish so much anymore!" she explained. "And Steve...well...you'll see!"

She smirked and did not say another word, just smugly gazed at the sunset.

Severus did not press her for more details; as she had said, he would soon see for himself. He much preferred just standing here with her at his side, listening to the gurgling stream and watching the sky turn from red, gold, peach and turquoise to violet and navy blue and spots of twinkling white.

He felt around in his pants pockets, and retrieved four pennies, 2 nickels, and a dime, in addition to two broken pop tops, an old rubber band, and a feather he'd found back in New York City. He grasped all of this in one fist, and then threw as hard as he could into the stream.

"Whatcha do _that_ for?" Azalea asked.

"Something that lady at the laundromat said today," Severus explained. "She was making that scarf for a holiday of theirs which is coming up next month. She said that one of the things they do on that day is go to a stream and empty their pockets into it..."

"You didn't empty your pockets," Azalea observed. "You still got that stick and that rock..."

Severus realized that the "stick" that she was referring to was his wand.

"Yes," he admitted, "I still have those...plus this..."

He retrieved something from his pocket and held it up...it was the combination hair ornament/roach clip that Azalea had given him last Friday.

"Since it was a gift," he explained, winking at her, "it would not be right to throw it away." He stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Anyway, I don't _think_ that gifts apply," he added, and then shrugged. "I really don't know."

" You can ask Benjie, he's Jewish, he'll know," Azalea answered, feeling around in the pockets of her own jeans. "Besides, it not until next month, so tonight don't really count, it just practice!"

She pulled some loose change, a bent paper clip, some chewed gum wrapped in silver paper and a fuzzy breath mint out. As she prepared to throw it into the stream, she first turned to Severus.

"Did you make a wish first?" she asked.

"Uh...no..." Severus answered, looking confused. "Miriam didn't say anything about making a wish..."

"You s'posed t'make a wish when you throw money into water!" Azalea stated. "_Everyone_ know that!"

"I didn't," Severus shrugged.

Azalea sighed, and then pressed a few pennies into his hand.

"Now make a wish, and throw them!" she demanded.

Severus paused and then raised his hand with the pennies.

"I wish..."

"_No!_" Azalea yelled. "You don't say it out _loud_! Wish not come true that way!"

"Oh," Severus thought, glad that Azalea had stopped him in time. Then he realized that this was not a _real _spell, just something Muggles did that they _thought_ was magick, but wasn't.

All the same, he thought about his wish, and then threw the coins into the stream as hard as he could. Azalea then followed suit. They stood there a few seconds, as the last of the light faded.

"Is it okay to say what one wished for after making the wish?" Severus asked.

"Not s'posed to," Azalea said, but then after a slight pause she added, "At least, I don't think so."

She shrugged.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just know you not s'posed to say it while you make it, and everyone just keep it secret after..."

"But what if two people make a wish at the same time," Severus inquired, "and then they share their wishes with each other? Would that stop the magick? Or make it stronger?"

"I dunno," Azalea admitted. "Never done it before..."

Severus stood there thinking.

"You've made wishes like this before?" he asked her. He could make out the nodding of her head in the starlight; her eyes seemed unusually bright.

"And you never told anyone what your wishes were? You kept them all secret?"

Azalea again nodded her head.

"And how many of those wishes came true?"

Azalea hung her head, and Severus could see tears rolling down her cheek.

"None," she admitted. Severus took her hand in his.

"At least," she added defiantly, raising her head back up and turning to look into his eyes, "not yet, anyways!"

"So," Severus mused. "Maybe telling someone what you wished for _won't_ break the spell. Maybe you _need_ to tell someone what you wished for, to make it come true!"

He squeezed Azalea's hand.

"I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours!" he teased.

Azalea smiled at him, but also looked slightly embarrassed.

"Okay," she acquiesced. "On the count of three, we both tell each other what we wished for..._one! Two! Three!"  
_  
She did it so fast that it caught Severus off-guard, but he found himself blurting out "I wished that we all could always be together!" at the same moment Azalea was exclaiming "I wished we always be a family and never leave each other!"

They stared at each other as it dawned on each one what the other had said. They then laughed, embracing each other in a hug.

"Wish _gotta_ come true!" Azalea laughed. "Both of us wish for the same thing, it just _gotta_ come true!"

She hugged Severus fiercely, and then kissed him on his forehead.

"I'd give you a _real_ kiss, Severus Snape," she told him as she pulled away, "but that'd mess up yo' nose and it too dark to fix it out here..."

"That's okay," Severus answered. "If it will help the wishes to come true, I'd gladly be ridiculed for having a hicky on the tip of my nose!"

Azalea stopped laughing, and took both of Severus' hands in hers.

"Maybe that's why most wishes don't come true," she mused. "Maybe it takes two people making the same wish without them knowing, and maybe they need to seal it with a kiss."

She pulled him to her, holding onto his hands and moving her arms behind her, so that Severus' arms were around her. She then put one arm around his back and the other around his neck, clasping the back of his head, and then she bent down and kissed him on the lips.

Severus tried to imitate what she was doing with her lips and tongue. He sensed that this surprised Azalea, but instead of pulling away he felt her hand on his back press him closer to her, and her other hand caressed and grasped his hair.

Not knowing what to do, he just imitated Azalea. He hugged her tightly with one arm, and reached up and clutched at her hair. However, since she was almost a foot taller than he was, this was more difficult for him to do; he only succeeded in grasping the hair at the nape of her neck.

But Azalea did not seem to mind; she continued kissing Severus, which he did not mind. But then her hand slowly moved from the small of his back down his spine to the top of his jeans, and he felt the tips of her fingers slip under the pants and tickle him just where his buttocks divided.

He was _not_ going to reciprocate _that_! _No, no, NO_! Granted, she had seen him nude many times over the past few days, but _this _was just too weird!

Due to this shock and the need to breathe, Severus let go of Azalea and pulled away, gasping for air. Azalea just smiled down at him.

"That should do it," she said in a low voice that was strangely deeper than her normal tone.

"_Wha...what_?" Severus stammered, confused. Azalea laughed.

"The wish," she answered. "That should seal it."

She took his hand in hers.

"You need to do some growin'," she told him. Severus just stared at her dumbly.

"So I don't have to bend so far to kiss you!" she added, throwing her head back and laughing.

Severus thought that her eyes looked like stars, and her teeth looked like tiny moons.

"Come on!" she added, picking up the bag with the soap and towels and taking Severus by the hand up the path.

Neither said a word, but Severus was as happy as he had ever remembered being. He could have walked to the ends of the earth holding Azalea's hand like this.

As they came to the edge of the camp, Azalea stopped and critically assessed the state of Severus' nose in the firelight. She brushed at it with her finger.

"It showin' again," she informed him. "Can't fix it until we get back to the van, that's where I left my bag with the concealer."

"That's alright," Severus told her, feeling as if he were in some sort of dream. "I don't care anymore. Let them make fun of me..."

Because the mark was again visible due to someone who loved him kissing him. Someone who never wanted him to leave. Someone who shared the same wish and dream he did.

Azalea's eyes glistened. She again pulled Severus to her, held his head in both her hands, and kissed him.

She sucked at his upper lip and nibbled at his lower lip, and her tongue became a snake that entered his mouth. The campsite disappeared as a type of explosion went off in Severus' head; he wondered if he was on another one of those hallucinogenic "trips".

However, Azalea pulled away, and the campsite returned.

"The other, that was for the wish," she said softly, running her fingers through his hair. "This one, baby, that was for you 'n' me..."

"You and me..." Severus repeated dumbly, still in a daze.

Azalea squeezed his hand.

"You and me, baby!" she exclaimed. "We'll _always_ be together! Can't change that, we _both_ wish for that!"

Severus just nodded. It _was_ a stupid Muggle conceit, wasn't it? This making a wish when throwing money in water?

However, he hoped that perhaps it was an obscure bit of magick that Muggles had stolen long ago. He hoped that it indeed _was _a true spell.

And so by the time Severus and Azalea strolled hand-in-hand into the center of the campsite, Severus had convinced himself that he and Azalea _had_ just performed a real act of magick together.

Most everyone who was not already asleep was gathered in the center of the circle of parked vehicles. A large campfire burned, and a few people were singing as they and a few others played guitars.

Annie and Benjie were sitting in the open side door of the minivan with Judy, but none of the others were around.

"They're over at the Swann's bus," Benjie explained. "I think most of them are going to stay with Free tonight..."

"Maybe," Annie added, rocking Judy. "There was a little...ah..._incident_. Actually, _two_ incidents, from what we heard..."

She looked intently at Azalea, who feigned innocence as she retrieved her large handbag.

"Anyway," Annie continued. "I think both Steve _and _Dawn are going to be sleeping in their own camper tonight..."

Severus caught a momentary look of confusion on Azalea's face, which seemingly helped convince Annie of Azalea's innocence in whatever "incidents" had occurred.

Severus retrieved his satchel, putting his wand in it before slinging it over his shoulder.

"What was Annie talking about?" he demanded as he and Azalea walked around the perimeter of the campsite.

"I _know_ what she mean about Steve!" Azalea admitted in a whisper. "Don't know what the hell she mean about Dawn!"

However, as their path took them first by the Temple's camper, one answer was quickly forthcoming.

Steve was sitting cross-legged on a blanket on the ground, Angel sitting next to him. Severus thought that it was odd that they seemed to be keeping to the shadows, but that was explained as they got closer and he could see that Steve had a big maroon and purple splotch at the end of his nose, much larger than the mark Severus had on his own.

When Steve saw Azalea, he scrambled to his feet, his hands balled into fists.

"_You!_"

To Severus, Steve seemed to be genuinely afraid of Azalea. Also very angry. Moreover, Angel seemed unusually wary as he too got to his feet.

"Like any _fish,_ Angel?" Azalea taunted as they walked by, choosing to ignore Steve.

Severus could see that Angel was fuming, but his friend said nothing. Severus looked questioningly from Angel to Azalea, but neither seemed disposed to offer a further explanation.

Even more confusing was an obviously unhappy, tearful Dawn peering out from the camper.

"Hi, Dawn!" Azalea and Severus called out, but the little girl just ducked back down inside the camper with a sob and did not say a word.

"What's _that_ about?" Severus whispered, and Azalea shrugged, obviously as confused as Severus.

However, once again the answer was not long in coming, as they arrived at the Swann's bus to find Yesmina and Free sitting on folding chairs outside the back of the bus.

DeWard was sitting in the open back door of the bus, holding a bloodstained, ice-filled cloth to his nose as Nierika sat behind him holding another ice-filled cloth on the back of his neck. Both of DeWard's eyes were black and swollen almost completely shut.

"What the hell happened to _you_?" Azalea demanded, rushing up to DeWard.

"Dawditbe!" DeWard whined.

"What?" Severus asked, looking in confusion from DeWard to Yesmina and Free.

However, it was Free's mother who provided the answer.

"It seems that DeWard here upset Dawn earlier today by calling her a Nazi," she began.

"Didott!" DeWard interjected. "Neber daid dje a Nadji! Daid dje _could_ be Nadji, neber daid dje wah one! And I apawojige to her, I apawojiged mo' dan one, dje 'till mad!"

Nierika stared at DeWard for a few moments before continuing.

"Well, whatever the finer points of _semantics_ are in the matter, Dawn was very upset. And apparently, when DeWard tried to apologize one more time, Dawn hit him. More than once, as you can see..."

"Dje bead me up!' DeWard whined. "Daid it for wad I day and wad _you_ do to 'teve!"

As much as DeWard's swollen, blackened eyes would allow him, he glared not only at Azalea but also at Yesmina and Free.

Severus turned to Azalea.

"You! _You_ did that to Steve!"

He was not upset that Steve now had a hicky on his nose; if anyone deserved one, Steve did for the breast joke he had made about Severus' own nose.

However, he was jealous that Azalea was the one who had given it to him.

"_I_ only held him down!" Azalea haughtily corrected him, turning to look at Yesmina and Free.

Severus looked at the other two girls. Both had the same look of cats that had recently eaten a flock of canaries that Angel and Steve had had earlier.

But then Yesmina gave Severus a sly look and laughed.

Yesmina?

_Yesmina_?

"_You_?" he asked her. She proudly nodded her head. Severus' jaw dropped.

"He deserved it!" she laughed. "For the way he made fun of you, and for scaring me!"

Nierika shook her head in frustration.

"The Temples have had a _serious_ discussion with their daughter, explaining to her that one does _not_ deal with being called a Nazi by turning around and acting just like one! I believe that they are making her sleep with them at their camper tonight..."

She looked intently at Azalea.

"_Others_ may wish to think about the appropriateness of their _own_ behavior, and if violence should be used to counter teasing."

Azalea shifted uncomfortably, but before she could say anything, Free spoke up.

"But mommy, it was like, so _funny_! Yesmina was, like, so very scared, man, and they wouldn't stop, and then Azalea showed up all Amazon-warrior like and tripped Angel and stuffed the fish in his pants and then she knocked Steve down and held him for Yesmina to give a hicky 'cuz he'd said something mean about Severus' nose..."

Free paused to take in a breath of air; Severus just stared at her. He had never heard her say so much, in such an animated way, since they had met.

However, her mother did not seem impressed. Nierika sighed and looked at her daughter sadly.

"Young lady, you know better. You _know_ that there's a better way to deal with conflict!"

Free turned to look at her mother.

"But mommy! You're always saying how women need to be strong, to be empowered! That women shouldn't be victims!"

Severus thought that Nierika seemed to be trying not to smile. She looked from her daughter to Azalea.

"There are different types of strength...physical strength shouldn't _necessarily_ be the first resource..."

She leaned forward and took DeWard's hand away from his nose.

"It's stopped bleeding..." she mused, gently probing the bridge of his nose. "It doesn't seem to be broken," she added, as DeWard winced.

She handed her ice-filled cloth to Free.

"Put the ice on his eyes, it'll help to keep the swelling down."

Free got up without a word and took her mother's place sitting behind DeWard as her mother retrieved a pillow. They had DeWard lay his head on it, and then Free held the ice pack over DeWard's eyes.

Nierika left without saying another word. Severus suspected that she was either going to talk to the Temples, or to Annie and Benjie.

Azalea sat down next to DeWard and squeezed his hand.

"How's my man doin'?" she asked softly. "It hurt?"

"_YES!_" DeWard retorted. "I can hardly _see_!"

"We gave him some of my medicine to stop the bleeding," Yesmina stated, holding out the bottle as Severus took Free's vacated seat. "But we were afraid to put anything on his eyes, we didn't know if it would hurt his eyes if any of the stuff got into it."

Severus took the bottle and mused a few moments. He then opened it and dabbed a little on the tip of his own nose.

"I don't know if it would hurt the eyes," Severus admitted, closing the bottle. "It's more to stop bleeding that is occurring, rather than to take away bruises. There _is_ such a medicine, but I don't have any of the ingredients for that specific function..."

He handed the bottle back to Yesmina.

"We'll see what it does to the mark on my nose...if there's an improvement tomorrow, then we can try carefully putting some on DeWard's eyes..."

"Between the two of you, I'm gonna run outta concealer!" Azalea laughed.

"I just wanna _see_!" DeWard complained.

"The ice should help the swelling go down," Free observed. DeWard harrumphed, grabbed the ice pack from Free and held it to his face, turning his back on all of them and mumbling something about girls.

"Well, I'm like tired too, man," Free stated. "I'm turning in..."

With that, she went into the bus, grabbed Bub, and was quickly asleep on top of a quilt on the floor.

"Me too!" Azalea yawned, stretching both her arms and her legs, then turning and crawling into the bus. Yesmina stood up and looked at Severus.

"You coming?" she asked him.

"In a while," he answered. He needed to be by himself for a bit.

"I'm sorry that I laughed at your nose earlier," Yesmina apologized. Severus chuckled.

"It _is_ rather ridiculous looking!" he admitted. Yesmina just smiled.

"But thank you for the apology," he added. "And thank you especially for getting back at Steve for me!"

He smiled up at Yesmina and winked at her. She in turn bent over, kissed him on his nose, and then turned and went into the bus.

Severus just sat there, bemused. Perhaps Free would be the next one to kiss him.

He thought about his and Azalea's wish; odd, that they had both made the same wish at once.

Even odder, now that he thought about it, was that he sincerely meant it.

He understood that the time they had remaining with Free and Steve and Dawn was limited. He had heard that the Swanns were only staying through the weekend and that they themselves would be leaving the Temple farm a few days after that.

However, Azalea and Angel and Yesmina and DeWard and the Silversteins _were_ now both friends _and_ family to him. They provided Severus something he had never had before, something perhaps hinted at with Lily, but which even his own mother had not, or could not, provide.

He could hardly remember the last time his mother had kissed him; he had to be really young, no older than DeWard was now. He thought that was probably the last time she had hugged him, too.

The more Severus thought about it, the less sure he was that his mother loved him, at least not the way he saw Annie loving Judy. He just could not visualize his mother _ever_ having held him and gazed at him with the look Annie had for Judy. Moreover, it was almost laughable to think that his mother cooed at him and rocked him and played with his fingers and toes like Annie did with her own baby.

In addition, there was no way that his mother would have taken in five strange kids, few questions asked, the way Annie and Benjie had.

Still, Severus was sure that his mother did not hate him the way his father hated him. Rather, his relationship with his mum was more that of colleague and co-conspirator, surreptiously being taught potions, charms, spells and curses by her when Tobias Snape was out of the house.

He had asked her once why she had married a Muggle, particularly _that_ Muggle. His mother had only wistfully looked out of the kitchen window that was perpetually grimy no matter how many times it was washed and dirt-repelling charms were cast on it, and she did not answer.

It was only within the last year that Severus had thought that perhaps he had found the answer. In rummaging through some old books and papers in the attic in hopes of finding new magick spells, he had found his parents' marriage license.

Funny, he had never thought to ask them about their wedding. Like most children, he had always just thought of his parents as married, but of course, they had to first meet and _get_ married at one time to then _be_ married.

However, he could not remember them ever having celebrated the anniversary of their wedding, and indeed Severus had no idea _when_ they had gotten married.

However, the license provided the answer.

The 31st of July, 1959.

Severus did not like geography; he had no interest in, nor desire to visit, other locales. He absolutely loathed what the Muggle school taught under the heading of "Social Studies". He applied himself to the subject of grammar, as he recognized the future importance of it, to both properly enunciate spells, and to open doors into better society.

However, he adored the precision of mathematics. There was no grey area in math, just black and white. Either one got the correct answer, or one did not.

Severus was very good at math.

Moreover, the mathematics of the elapsed time between his parents' marriage and his birth was quite obvious. As was the meaning of it.

His mother was pregnant with him when she married Tobias Snape. _That_ was the answer to the question of why she had married him.

Severus had never thought beyond that. He had not been wanted, he had just happened. Neither of his parents truly loved him, although his mother tolerated him. And that had been enough.

Until now.

Now he had people who not only liked him, but who also loved him. Who would take him in their arms and hug him and kiss him. Who would tease him, not because they hated him, but as a way of showing their affection for him.

Moreover, he knew that _he_ loved _them_, that he could not bear to be parted from them. However, it also frightened him. This newfound need was also a weakness.

With a pang, he realized that he loved and missed his mother and wanted to protect her, even if she had never loved him and did not miss him now.

He had never thought beyond the date on the marriage license, the proof that his mother was pregnant when she wed, to consider how she had gotten in that condition. Azalea had explained the biology of the thing, but he still could not imagine his parents doing something like that.

At least, not voluntarily. Perhaps his mother had been forced into it, the way Azalea had been. Severus could believe that. His father was a violent brute, and it was not hard to imagine that he had brutalized his mother that way. She had gotten pregnant, and Tobias Snape was forced to marry her. Yes, that was why his father hated him, and why his mother was benevolently indifferent.

He wanted his mother here with him. He wanted to share his new family with her, make her part of it. Perhaps if she were away from his father, if she only had her son, she would come to love him, especially if she saw that he was loveable to others. In addition, he wanted to show her that he loved her and forgave her, no matter what.

His mum, and Lily. It would be perfect if both of them could come here and join this new type of family, a family combining the best of Muggle and Wizardkind. Lily would be the crux, the Magickal Muggle bridging both worlds.

But sadly, Severus remembered that he could not even get a letter to either one of them. He only halfway jokingly wondered to himself if the _Accio_ spell worked on people. Then he remembered _Accio-ing_ an interesting-looking spider once that was out of his reach. A spider is a living thing, he thought, so in theory it should also work on people.

However, he could not remember either having read, or his mother saying anything, on the matter. Severus thought that there might be a distance limitation, that beyond a certain distance the spell would not work. But he realized that he could not remember ever having read or been told about that one way or another.

_Could_ he _Accio_ anything, from anywhere in the world? What if he decided to _Accio_ an elephant from India?

He shook his head. There _had_ to be something stopping it, else Wizardkind would be rife with people being _Accio'd_ hither and yon. At the very least, it had to be a very disconcerting experience for the one being _Accio'd_, especially if they had no forewarning.

He then wished that he could wrap himself up, do a reverse _Accio_ spell, and send himself home. There _was_ the _Apparating_ spell, but his mother had told him that he would not be taught that until his sixth year at Hogwarts.

However, if there was some sort of spell where he could wrap himself up and send himself like a package or a letter in the mail...

_Of course_! Why hadn't he thought of it before now?

Lily might not have thought of it, although he _had_ not only told her, but also shown her how to do the _Accio_ spell. She definitely understood the concept.

However, his mother would have thought of it, he was sure. When the owls she had sent out returned with the letters she had written undelivered, he was sure that she would conclude that he was somehow beyond the range that owls could fly.

However, she would remember that _Accio_ was one of the first spells she had taught her son. Moreover, if indeed _Accio_ had unlimited range, she would have written him a letter. Placed it somewhere, perhaps under the pillow of his bed. Or the secret cubbyhole where she hid her potion ingredients from her husband.

Severus wondered that if he tried the summoning charm now, how long would it take the letter to reach him? It was now about one hour after sunset, making it about 9 p.m. If he tried _Accio-ing_ the letter now, would it get here before they left in the morning?

Severus realized sadly that he could not count on it. It had a whole ocean to cross, and he was not sure how far from the coast they now were.

He sighed. They would be at the Temple's farm by tomorrow night, and then be there for over a week. The letter he was sure that his mother had written had waited this long to be acquired, one more day would not matter.

The stone in his pocket quivered.

At least, he thought that was what he felt. He took it out of his pocket and held it in his palm. It just sat there like a rock, not doing anything. However, just when he was about to put it back into his pocket, it quivered again.

Or rather the rock itself did not move, but something around the rock did. It almost looked like heat waves, although the stone remained cool. Whatever it was doing caused a slight tingling sensation in Severus' palm.

He did not know what made him look up. Nothing obvious had happened or changed in the campsite.

However, something was going _through_ the campsite. Or rather, a group of somethings.

Severus could not be sure. It was coming from the edge of the woods and crossing the center of the campsite where the others were gathered around the campfire. The thing then disappeared into the woods on the other side.

He got the sense that there were more than one, but it was hard to tell. It was like trying to count smoke. Indeed, whatever these things were, they seemed to be composed of smoke and cloud and shadow.

It was hard to make out their shape, although he got a general impression of a big dog or even a wolf. However, they were definitely _not_ the werewolves about which his mother had taught him. At least, he did not think so. But perhaps America had a different type of werewolf.

However, these creatures seemed to take no notice of the humans amongst whom they were passing, and the humans in turn did not notice anything strange just a few feet away from them.

Something made Severus turn and look at where these things were coming from, and there in the dark at the edge of the woods, just a few yards from him, was another one of the creatures.

With glowing red eyes.

Yes, he was sure he saw two burning coals in the blackness, but they quickly disappeared in the moving, undulating smoke of the shadow creature as it left the forest and crossed the clearing, seemingly oblivious to the humans in its path.

However, just before reentering the forest on the other side, it stopped and with two of its companions turned their heads in Severus' direction. Severus could now clearly make out six glowing coals in the darkness.

He did not know what these creatures were, yet he somehow knew that while they could be extremely dangerous, they meant these humans no harm.

Indeed, he sensed that they were as surprised to know that he could see them as he was in seeing them.

The strange stone in his hand again "quivered". Severus momentarily glanced at it, and when he looked back up the shadow creatures had disappeared.

He decided that this was as good a time as any to go to bed. Too much had happened today for him to be able to handle anything more.

He put the stone back into his pocket, and climbed into the bus, making sure that all the doors were securely closed, and then found himself a spare quilt and pillow and laid it on the floor amongst the prone bodies of Azalea, Yesmina, and DeWard, and soon joined them in sleep.

**_

* * *

_**

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1969

* * *

_Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong  
Whether I find a place in this world  
Or never belong_

I gotta be me, I've gotta be me  
What else can I be but what I am  
I want to live, not merely survive  
And I won't give up this dream  
Of life that keeps me alive

They had arisen just after a grey dawn to a gratifying breakfast of many eggs and toast and crisp bacon and fried potatoes bowls of cereal with berries (_real_ cereal, Azalea had pointed out, not that granola crap) and someone had even made pancakes.

The real agenda for this large and heavy breakfast soon became clear once they got on the road, as it was stated that they planned to make as few stops as possible so that they could get to the Temple's farm that night.

Severus did not mind. The bus was well stocked with cans of juice, soda, and eggs that had been hard-boiled that morning, in addition to loaves of bread and jars of peanut butter and three kinds of jam, and sticks of pepperoni and beef jerky.

There was cheese left over from the night before, and someone had gotten some leftover barbecued chicken that was almost as good to eat cold as it had been hot.

And gratefully the Swanns were not as dogmatic about organic food and vegetarianism as the Silversteins, so the bus also had a good stock of cookies, cupcakes, potato chips, pretzels, salted peanuts, and something Free's mother had made which they called "fruit roll-ups" that to Severus seemed like chewy candy.

They'd chewed on fruit roll-ups as they left the state forest, and devoured cookies, cupcakes, and the rest of the milk as they traveled through Pennsylvania.

By the time they reached a place called Youngstown, Ohio, they'd had hard-boiled eggs and cheese sandwiches with juice, and when they had passed through a city called Columbus, the barbecue chicken was reduced to bones. Luckily, this coincided with a stop to refuel, so everyone took advantage of the restrooms to wash their hands.

In between these periodic feasts, the children either played games or worked on various crafts.

Over breakfast, Dawn had made a tearful and heartfelt apology to DeWard, who at first was not sure he should trust her.

However, when Dawn threw her arms around him and hugged and kissed him and DeWard just could not help but hug and kiss her in return, all the adults thought that it was just so cute, and so Dawn and DeWard were now ensconced on the Swann's bus playing some sort of board game with Nierika and Yesmina.

The situation with Angel and Steve was a little more complicated. With the adults' mediation, Azalea, Yesmina, and Free were made to apologize to the boys, who in turn were made to apologize to the girls for teasing them.

However, Severus wondered how a coerced apology could be considered "real".

The mark on Severus' nose was decidedly lighter the next morning, so Yesmina's medicine was offered to Steve, who dabbed some on his nose, but then decided that he was going to travel with his parents, and Angel decided to join Steve.

Severus felt funny. No one was making any demands on him, but he felt drawn in two directions. He missed Angel's company, and if truth were told, he was a little jealous that Angel was choosing Steve over him.

However, looking at it another way, Severus realized that Angel could be choosing to just go where he would not be kicked, and his existing bruises could start healing.

Moreover, as much as Severus liked Angel and Steve, neither one gently caressed his nose with concealer and powder, nor brushed his hair and spent hours braiding it into dozens of something called "cornrows", as Azalea was now doing. She had spent all day carefully working beads and pop tops into each braid.

Free said he was beginning to look like something called a Rastafarian; Azalea corrected her, saying that Severus looked like an Egyptian god, an assessment to which Free acquiesced. She then asked if Azalea would do the same to her hair tomorrow. Azalea looked surprised at the request, then smiled and said they would _all_ get braids so that they would be from the same tribe.

As this was going on, Severus worked on his pop-top-chain-mail shirt. He had gone back to the original design of just attaching one pop top to the other, as it was the easiest to do in the moving vehicle while one's hair was being braided. He decided that once they got to the farm, he would go back to figuring out how to either knit or crochet a version of the shirt.

Free had spent the morning working with some cotton cord they had on the bus, and by lunchtime presented Severus with a macraméd pouch to wear around his neck, into which he could put his new rock.

Everyone admired the design of the knots on both the pouch and the strap that went around the neck. Severus asked Free to show him how to do macramé once they got to the farm.

They took a break from their various handiworks going through Indianapolis to snack on apples and oranges that had been made cold by being kept in the coolers with the ice and soda and juice. It was cloudy out, and they actually ran into quite a few rainstorms that slowed their progress.

But it was sticky and humid, and the cold fruit and drinks were a welcome respite. Free then brought out a bag of something she called "Wasabi Peas", which she explained was one of her favorite snacks back home.

She crunched on a few and offered the rest to the others, warning that they were "like, really spicy, man!" Azalea tentatively took out one pea and put it into her mouth, her reaction eagerly watched by the others.

She paused, and a somewhat surprised look grew on her face. But she then announced that she had had hotter food down in Louisiana, and grabbed a handful more peas and shoved them into her mouth.

Severus, having had an unpleasant experience with hot sauce on corn the night before, just took one pea and popped it into his mouth. At first, he didn't know what Free and Azalea were talking about, and then it happened. An intense pain in the back of his mouth that exploded into his sinuses and nose, and then created a white-hot explosion in his brain much like what he'd experienced last night when kissing Azalea.

This was shortly followed by an almost euphoric feeling that Free said her parents had explained was due to some chemical in the brain that acted like a drug in reaction to the pain.

Everyone then joined in eating the Wasabi Peas, it becoming somewhat of a game to see who could stand the most pain.

As the bag became nearly empty, Azalea suggested that they save a few and trick Angel and Steve the next day, but Free explained that they had many more bags of the snack on hand, so they all eagerly finished the bag that they had.

They then all played a card game that had to be explained to Severus, called Rummy. They then played a game of Hearts.

Azalea then decided it was time to finish braiding Severus' hair, mumbling to the others when the adults couldn't hear that once they got to the farm, she'd teach them all how to play Poker and Blackjack.

Severus resumed fashioning his shirt. Free started teaching Yesmina how to crochet granny squares and Irish roses. Dawn and DeWard (whose eyes were much less swollen thanks to the twin applications of ice and the judicious use of Severus' potion), scribbled with crayons in some coloring books that the girls had bought yesterday, before curling up on a quilt together and taking a nap, waking with a mutual "Are we there yet?" only when they were in a place called Kentucky.

In the evening's light, they could see that a bad storm had recently gone through the area. Trees were down, roofs were damaged, and there were signs of flooding and mudslides. According to the radio, this was due to what remained of the hurricane that had devastated the Gulf Coast, and the damage was estimated to be in the millions of dollars.

Severus noticed that Azalea was much less animated; he knew that she was worried about her relatives, but since there was this understanding that none of them were supposed to talk to her about it, he said nothing. However, he _did_ wonder when Benjie and Annie would get around to it as they had said they would.

Azalea finished Severus' hair, and then they all had a supper of cheese and hardboiled eggs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and dessert of cold fruit and cookies and cake and candy as they went through a city called Louisville and then back into Indiana again.

Severus had lost all sense of direction since the sky had been overcast all day, and now it was getting dark. He did not understand how they could leave Indiana but be back in Indiana. However, Dawn said she recognized where they were, and it wouldn't be long until they were home.

So as the sky darkened and it became impossible to continue working on any crafts, they all just sat back and watched what scenery they could through the sheets of heavy rain, listening to the music on the radio and not saying a word.

_I gotta be me, I gotta be me  
The dream that I see makes me what I am  
That faraway prize  
A world of success is waiting for me  
If I heed the call  
_

Severus was sitting next to Azalea, who was staring out the window, her face undecipherable. He took her hand and squeezed it.

She jumped a little, startled out of her reverie, but then looked down at Severus and smiled, squeezing his hand back. She then pulled him towards her, having him lean back on her as she put her arm around his waist.

Severus was not sure, but he thought he must have dozed off. He looked out the window, and was sure of it. It was dark, and difficult to see through the rain, but it was obvious that they were no longer on the highway.

He glanced around the bus, thinking to ask Dawn if they were near her home, but saw that she and the other children were asleep.

He leaned back on the sleeping Azalea and watched out of the window.

_I won't settle down, won't settle for less  
As long as there's a chance  
That I can have it all, I'll go it alone_

_That's how it must be  
I can't be right for somebody else  
If I'm not right for me_

Severus wondered who was singing this song. He'd heard it at various times throughout the day on the radio, and he'd learned from Azalea and the others that when one song got played a lot on the radio, that usually meant that it was among the top forty records being sold that week, so it was obviously a popular song.

However, he liked the sound of the man's voice, and the sincerity in the manner he sung it. Moreover, Severus especially liked the sentiment of the song.

You could never be right for anyone if you were not right with and for yourself first.

That is what he needed to tell Lily...that by getting lost and found in America, he had found himself. He was now "right", and therefore could be right for her.

_I gotta be free, I've gotta be free  
Daring to try, to do it or die  
I've gotta be me_

_I'll go it alone, that's how it must be  
I can't be right for somebody else  
If I'm not right for me_

Severus could feel himself dozing off again. He was only vaguely aware of the bus slowing and turning off of the road, and that it was now bobbing and bumping on an unpaved road.

_I gotta be free, I just gotta be free  
Daring to try, to do it or die  
I gotta be me_

Severus was not aware of the large white house with a huge porch wrapped around it that loomed out of the darkness, nor that the bus slowed and parked next to one of many barns.

He was dreaming of mountains, and a tower. Multiple towers, to be exact. He was older, and living with Lily in one of the towers. However, in another tower, he saw Azalea; she looked angry, but also sad, and also afraid. She was holding something that Severus could not recognize, and then she slowly closed the shutters on the window.

Severus could see Yesmina in another tower. It was Severus' tower, but Yesmina seemed to be married and living there with her husband. She looked across to Severus with a smile, but then glanced at the closed shutters of Azalea's tower and looked back at Severus with tears in her eyes.

"Go to her," she seemed to be saying, but Severus was suddenly indignant. Azalea had closed the shutters herself! She could come to _him_ if she really wanted to, _his_ doors were not locked.

However, at that very moment there was a knock at the door of the tower he was in. Lily looked up at him.

"Are you going to open it, or will I have to?" she asked.

Severus stood there without answering her, and without moving. She looked at him with an exasperated expression and sighed, but before either one of them could move, the door opened and there stood a man whom Severus somehow knew was an adult DeWard.

"You needed me," he stated. Severus just looked at him in confusion.

"Yes, he does," Lily agreed, turning from DeWard and fixing Severus with her cold, green eyes. "You need him!" she stated emphatically.

She then stood up and climbed onto the sill of the window.

"Where are you going?" Severus demanded.

"I'll always be there for you, Severus," she answered, and then jumped. He ran to the window and saw that she was flying without a broom, and that others had joined her.

He was confused and also annoyed with her, but his attention was distracted as he saw Steve and Azalea walking hand-in-hand on the rocks below. Azalea was still carrying the unrecognizable bundle.

The fact that Azalea, after closing the shutters in his face, would leave her tower and not come to him, but go walking off with Steve, made Severus extremely angry. He turned to face DeWard.

"Tell them to come back!" he shouted at DeWard.

"I can't," he answered.

"_YES YOU CAN!"_ Severus screamed, on the verge of a tantrum.

"_You_ need to call them back," DeWard stated calmly.

"I can't!" Severus cried, choking back a sob. "I can't call _any_ of them back!"

"You can't, or you won't?"

_"I WON'T!"_ Severus admitted. "_They_ left me! _My_ door was _always_ open! _They_ could have come to _me_ at any time!"

"Your door was locked. I just unlocked it."

Severus was confused.

"I...I...I didn't lock the door!" he stammered. "My door's _never_ been locked!"

DeWard laughed.

"Your door's _always_ been locked, dude!"

And with that, he turned around and walked out the door, which closed and locked of its own accord. Severus rushed to the door, but found that he was locked in.

He rushed from one window to the next. Lily and the party she was flying with were just dark specks in the sky. Steve and Azalea were standing at the edge of a precipice, ready to jump or fall, Severus was not sure which. But he could not cry out to them, and even if he had been able to, he was too far away for them to be able to hear.

However, the other towers were nearer. They could save Azalea and Steve!

He looked and saw Annie in a tower just below his. She was looking with concern at Azalea and Steve below, but she was also too far away for them to hear.

Benjie was playing some sort of game with a teenaged Judy in their own tower, as an adult Free watched. Severus yelled to them, and they stopped and came to the window.

"_Stop them!"_ Severus yelled in desperation, pointing to Azalea and Steve. _"Say something to them!"_

Benjie, Judy, and Free started yelling to Azalea and Steve, who only turned and waved. They either could not understand what was being yelled, or chose to ignore it. They were now both dangerously close to the edge, which had started to crumble.

Severus looked and saw yet another tower, this one much closer to the precipice. Inside was someone pale and gaunt staring back at him whom Severus did not recognize.

"_DO_ something!" Severus pleaded. "Please help them! Help _me_!"

And he felt ashamed as he broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.

However, the strange figure in the other tower turned and looked down at Azalea and Steve. Severus watched as the eerie figure transformed, sprouted wings that were a cross between a swan and a phoenix, and grew in size. Flames seemed to engulf it. It turned its head to look back at Severus with eyes that glowed, and seemed to be pleading with Severus.

_"Angel?"_ Severus gasped in shock.

Angel turned away from Severus, and flew out of his tower. He swept down towards Azalea and Steve, and Severus breathed a sigh of relief as he realized his friends would be saved.

But before Angel could reach them, Steve slipped off the edge. Severus could hear Azalea scream as she yanked her hand out of Steve's. She turned and looked at Severus, holding out the package she held, but as Angel swept down Steve's hand clutched Azalea's ankle and she fell backwards into the abyss with him, her bundle falling with her.

Angel shrieked in despair, and disappeared into the abyss.

Severus awoke with a start, covered in sweat. The bus was not moving, and as he looked around, he realized that they were at the Temple's place. Azalea was still sleeping by his side, and Yesmina, Free, Dawn and DeWard also were asleep. Severus peered out a window, and finally was able to make out the Temple's camper. He was sure that Steve and Angel must be inside, or perhaps they had gone into the farmhouse Severus saw a few yards away. That had to be it.

They were all safe.

It had only been a bad dream.

Severus turned and put his head on Azalea's shoulder, and his arm around her waist. She stirred but did not wake as she reached an arm around Severus.

It had just been a bad dream. As Severus drifted back to sleep, he kept reminding himself of the wish he and Azalea had made. None of them would ever be parted.

* * *

__

Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong  
Whether I find a place in this world  
Or never belong

I gotta be me, I've gotta be me  
What else can I be but what I am  
I want to live, not merely survive  
And I won't give up this dream  
Of life that keeps me alive

_I gotta be me, I gotta be me  
The dream that I see makes me what I am  
That far-away prize  
A world of success Is waiting for me  
If I heed the call_

_I won't settle down, won't settle for less  
As long as there's a chance  
That I can have it all, I'll go it alone_

_That's how it must be  
I can't be right for somebody else  
If I'm not right for me_

_I gotta be free, I've gotta be free  
Daring to try, to do it or die  
I've gotta be me_

_I'll go it alone, that's how it must be  
I can't be right for somebody else  
If I'm not right for me_

_I gotta be free, I just gotta be free  
Daring to try, to do it or die  
I gotta be me_

**I'VE GOTTA BE ME  
**Sammy Davis Jr.  
1969


	17. Chap 15 This Magic Moment Aug20'69

_**

* * *

**__**  
Chapter 15 - Wednesday, August 20, 1969**_

* * *

Severus awoke to a thin, grey morning light. Free was already awake and combing her hair.

Severus was surprised to see her in a pair of jeans and a halter-top. He had never seen her not wearing some sort of dress.

"I'm guessing, like, we won't have to be using the bushes for a bathroom anymore, man," Free said in a low voice so as not to wake the others.

Severus looked around. Azalea was still asleep, leaning between the back of a seat and a window, a pillow rolled into her neck. Yesmina was lying on a quilt, with Dawn and DeWard nearby.

Outside, Severus could make out that they were parked next to a barn. At least, he thought it was a barn. He had only seen barns in pictures, and this building rather looked like one. It was big and grey and did not look like a house, so since they were on a farm, he guessed it was a barn.

It was quite foggy, so it was impossible to see anything beyond a few yards. He could just barely make out another large building a few yards from the barn.

Looking out the front windshield, he could see a large white house with dark shutters beyond the parked vehicles. To Severus it looked like the main part of the house was rather old, but that at sometime after the main structure had been built, wings had been added on either side that went to the back of the property.

A massive porch wrapped around the front and down the sides for as far as the fog would allow Severus to see. There were many rocking chairs and a couple of swings hung on the porch and many tables.

It looked very inviting to Severus, and indeed, he could see a couple of the adults whom they had traveled with on the porch, in addition to some people he did not recognize.

Severus looked out of the other side of the bus, and then out of the back door. The fog made it difficult to see, but it looked like there were fields in that direction with something tall growing in it.

"Looks like corn," Free observed, pulling her hair into a ponytail and holding it with a silver and turquoise clip.

Azalea stirred.

"Wherwehat?" she mumbled, shading her eyes as she peered out the window.

At that moment a rooster crowed somewhere close, but hidden in the fog.

"I'm, like, surprised that didn't wake you all earlier, man!" Free laughed. "It's been doing that since the sun rose, man!"

The rooster crowed again, and Severus for the first time became aware of the sound of chickens nearby.

"I think that's the chicken roost, man," Free said, nodding to the barn next to which they were parked.

A dog barked and a cow mooed in the distance.

"We're on a goddamn fuckin' _farm_!" Azalea exclaimed.

Severus turned to her with raised eyebrows.

"We have been talking about it for days," he observed coolly.

"I _know_!" Azalea answered. "It's just...just...well, it was like a dream, you know? It didn't seem real when we was just talkin' about it happenin'..."

Yesmina stirred and then awoke, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Are we there?" she asked. The rooster crowed again, causing her to look around in wonder.

"Yeah, can't you _smell_ it?" Azalea sniffed in disdain.

Severus only just then noticed there _was_ a distinctive smell; if it was stronger he might have found it unpleasant, but to him it actually suggested something right. Something "earthy", in the truest sense of the word.

"This is an organic farm," Free observed. "That means they don't use chemical fertilizers."

"What _do_ they use?" Severus asked.

"Shit," Free answered matter-of-factly. "They, like, have chickens and cows and pigs, so they have plenty of shit, man."

Both Dawn and DeWard stirred.

"It _smells_ like shit, too!" Azalea complained. "My granny, she have chickens, it never smelled like this!"

"Does she have as many chickens as this?" Severus asked, nodding his head towards the large building next to them.

"No," Azalea admitted, rummaging in her bag and pulling out her brush. "Granny only have a coupla chickens..."

"And did she have cows and pigs?"

"She have a milk cow once," Azalea mused, brushing her hair.

"And did your grandmother have fields of corn to fertilize?" Severus continued to probe.

"She have a garden!" Azalea retorted. "_And_ she use chicken shit on it, Mr. Severus Know-It-All Snape! Still never smelled like this!"

"It's all a matter of scale," Severus observed, looking around. "Your grandmother had a garden for her own use. This is a farm growing things to make money."

"We have over two-hundred chickens, and five roosters," Dawn explained. "Thirty-two cows and seven calves, although Dad wants to get the herd up to forty-five. We had fifty-two pigs at the beginning of the summer, but we sold some at auction so now we're down to thirty-eight..."

Azalea had stopped brushing her hair in mid-stroke and was staring at Dawn. Severus smirked.

"That is a lot of shit," he observed. Azalea looked at him in surprise, and then laughed and resumed brushing her hair.

"That _is_ a lot of shit, Severus Snape!" she agreed. "Yo' right on with _that_!"

"Actually, it's not enough for everything we grow," Dawn continued. "We have to buy more."

Severus mulled over the idea that people actually made money selling shit.

"Is that corn growing over there?" Yesmina asked, indicating the fields next to them.

"Yeh," Dawn answered, "although most of it's been harvested already. This section's devoted to late-season corn; it's ready for harvesting now and will last until the first frost..."

DeWard was looking at Dawn with a mixture of awe and admiration. Indeed, Severus was also impressed with Dawn's depth of knowledge regarding her farm.

"You can't see it because of the fog," Dawn continued, pointing to the left of the house. "But there are fields of hay and alfalfa, we sell some of the hay that we don't use...and there's tomatoes, melons, squash, pumpkins, lettuce and other greens, cabbage, pole beans, peppers, carrots, beets, blueberries, strawberries earlier in the season, onions, leeks, garlic..."

She paused to grab a breath, and then continued as the others listened in awe.

"Over there," she indicated, pointing to the right side of the house, "just before the woods we have a fruit orchard where we grow apples and pears and plums and cherries. And we have an herb garden right behind the house..."

"I'd be very interested to see _that_," Severus responded.

"I'd be very interested to _eat_ all that!" DeWard exclaimed, looking like he believed he'd awoken into a dream.

"I'll show you around after breakfast," Dawn indicated, opening one of the doors on the bus. "Right now I'm _hungry_!"

She hopped out of the bus, with DeWard right behind her.

"Like _we _ain't!" Azalea mumbled sarcastically, jamming her brush into her bag and quickly putting some eyeliner and lip-gloss on.

She, Severus and Yesmina joined Dawn, DeWard and Free outside, and then followed Dawn as she led the way to the house.

As they made their way through the obstacle course of parked vehicles and approached the front porch, they could see Angel and Steve also approaching.

Tom Temple was on the front porch, talking to someone from the group the Silversteins were traveling with, whom Severus only knew as 'Jack'. He did not recognize the other man and two women, one of who was nursing an infant, but from the manner that they greeted Steve and Dawn it was obvious that they lived with them on the farm.

"Hey, kids!" Tom exclaimed when the children clambered onto the porch. "About time all you sleepyheads got up!"

He rustled Dawn's hair.

"Sorry, Dad," both Dawn and Steve apologized, but before they could say anything further, Tom made a dismissive gesture indicating that he was only joking.

Enticing smells drifted out of the front door, promising something hot and delicious. Severus' stomach growled loudly.

Whether others could hear it, or perhaps all the children's stomachs growled at the same time, Tom laughed and pointed to the door.

"Go on in and get some breakfast!" he ordered good-naturedly. "We'll show you around afterwards!"

Steve and Dawn needed no further prodding, and the others eagerly followed them into the house.

The door opened directly into a parlor, with stairs on the left against the wall, the rest of the room taken up by a large Victorian-style couch that was somewhat threadbare, two faded wingback chairs, an upholstered platform rocker that looked like some animal had eaten part of it, a couple of wooden rockers, and an old player-piano in one corner.

The rug was of an oriental style, with most of it worn down to its canvas backing. It clashed with the large flowers on the faded wallpaper, which was peeling away from the wall at some of its seams.

On the walls, and in frames on some of the tables in the room, were old pictures of people whom Severus assumed were long-dead relatives.

An old steamer trunk in front of the couch was utilized as a coffee table. On top of the trunk were folded pieces of cloth, next to which was an opened sewing basket. Next to this was an old chess set.

In front of one of the wingback chairs was a large wooden frame on a stand, in which was placed a piece of canvas on which someone was working a design in yarn.

Between two of the rocking chairs was a small table that looked about to be toppled over by the large amount of old books stacked on it.

Underneath this table were stacked a box containing a checkers set, and other board games Severus did not recognize.

However, what really caught Severus' attention were the number of candles and oil lamps throughout the room.

He could see that there _was_ electricity -- there was a switch by the front door, and he could see two electrical floor lamps plugged into opposite walls of the room. However, it was obvious that candles and oil lamps were used as much, if not more, than the electric lights.

Severus thought it was the most beautiful room he had ever seen, and he imagined that at night, with the candles and lamps lit, it must be a most joyful and emotionally comforting place to be.

However, his assessment of the room as being the most beautiful was quickly revised to being second most beautiful once he entered the kitchen.

It was a huge room; at one time Severus surmised that there must have been another room between the parlor and the kitchen, probably a little-used formal dining room. A wall had been removed, opening it up to the kitchen, and this area was mostly floor-to-ceiling shelves where various foodstuffs and crockery were stored. On an outside wall, underneath a window, was some sort of work surface.

On the outside wall in the kitchen proper was a long counter made of some sort of stone. There was a deep sink under another window, and after another expanse of counter, one of the largest stoves Severus had ever seen.

On the opposite wall was another long counter of the same stone, on which were various appliances, both electrical and manual. On both walls hung cabinets with glass fronts through which could be seen other appliances, plus various sets of dishes, glasses, and more crockery.

The back wall was composed almost entirely of windows with matching French doors on either side, which would give one a good view of the fields and orchards once the fog burned off, but now only afforded a view of a patio area in the middle of which was a huge, long table.

In the middle of the kitchen was a table as long as the one outside. Herbs and flowers were tied in bunches and hanging upside down both from the rafters and in front of the windows on the back wall. The rafters also held the largest cooking vessels, most of which were either copper or cast iron.

In front of the back windows was a workbench containing colored glass jars filled with dried substances or various liquids. There was also something that looked like a mold made out of lead. More jars of mysterious substances were on the shelves that were underneath the bench.

Annie was sitting at the end of the kitchen table sipping a cup of tea, turned towards Judy who was in a basket on the workbench behind her. Someone had donated an old bassinette and unused baby clothes, which Judy obviously found to her liking, as she gurgled and cooed in contentment.

Nierika, Janet, and Linda were on the right-hand side of the kitchen with some other women, a few of whom Severus recognized as being part of the Hog Farm. Each woman was at work at some task, and the kitchen was filled with wonderful smells as a result.

"Hey, kids!" Annie exclaimed, turning towards the door, her cup of tea in hand. "Come on in and have some breakfast!"

The children eagerly entered and sat around the table, Steve and Dawn wishing their mother and the other women, "Good morning." Free first went over to her mother wishing, "Good morning, Mom," with a hug and kiss, which her mother returned, running her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"What would you like to eat, Moonbeam?" Nierika asked her, lifting a towel off a mound next to the huge stove, revealing a stack of waffles. "We have waffles here, or I could make you eggs and toast, or cereal…there're muffins about ready to come out of the oven…"

"I'll have eggs and toast, please," Free decided, turning and sitting at the table between Azalea and Yesmina.

"I know _you_ two'll have your usual!" Janet stated, glancing at Steve and Dawn and reaching for two bowls, which she then proceeded to fill with something from a large crockery jar.

"How will you have them?" Nierika asked her daughter, as a flurry of activity commenced simultaneously. Annie put her cup of tea down, stood up, and went over to one side of the kitchen and opened a large metal door revealing a small pantry-type room beyond, from which emanated a waft of cool air. Inside, Severus could see many bottles of milk, a large amount of yellow and orange round objects that looked like cheese, an amazing amount of eggs, and a few other items that Severus could not recognize.

Annie placed a couple of bottles of milk on the table as Linda gave each child their own glass. Annie then handed Linda two bowls of eggs and a block of cheese, which she brought over to Nierika.

Free had been contemplating all this time.

"Can I have _rancho huevos_?" she asked. Severus noticed that Angel showed interest in this request.

"I don't know if they have the right peppers, hon'," her mother answered, turning towards Janet with a questioning look. "Do you have any hot peppers? Even _cubanelles_?"

"Actually, we _do_ grow some, but we don't have any here in the kitchen at the moment, only regular green pepper, sorry," Janet answered, placing the bowls of cereal in front of her children, and then retrieving a bowl from the refrigerator and placing it on the table. It was filled with fresh blueberries and blackberries.

"What about you, kids?" Annie asked, standing behind Severus and Azalea. Steve had retrieved forks, knives, and spoons for everyone, and he and Dawn commenced to pour milk on their cereal and then scoop berries on top, finishing it off with generous doses of sugar from a large sugar bowl on the table.

Free serenely waited for her own breakfast, but the other children just sat there, eyes wide.

"_Kids_!?" Annie prompted. "Do you want eggs? Waffles? Cereal? Muffins?"

Still, no one answered. Then Severus turned and glanced up at Annie.

"Yes," he answered simply. There was another pause.

"'Yes', what?" Janet asked.

"Yes -- to everything," Severus replied. He noticed that the women all exchanged some sort of knowing glances that he did not understand, nor at that point did he care. He just wanted to eat.

Everything.

"Same for the rest of you?" Janet asked, laughing, to which the rest of the children eagerly nodded their heads.

"How about I make you a western instead?" Nierika asked Free, to which her daughter eagerly nodded, reaching over and picking a few berries out of the bowl as everyone else poured himself or herself a tall glass of milk.

Janet proceeded to fill five more bowls with cereal and gave one each to Severus, Angel, Azalea, Yesmina, and DeWard. It was a mixture of substances that looked very much like the granola they'd had at Woodstock.

The children eagerly added berries to their cereal, drenched it in milk and sugar, and happily scooped spoonfuls into their mouths as Linda took a dozen muffins out of the oven and placed the pan on a rack to cool.

The plate of waffles was next put on the table, along with a bowl of berry jam, a jar of honey and a bottle of a type of syrup that Severus did not recognize. He moved his now-empty cereal bowl off of his plate, replaced it with a waffle, and then picked up the bottle with the strange amber liquid.

He looked at it quizzically, and read its label. It was something called "Maple Syrup" from someplace called Vermont. "Grade A", which Severus assumed meant that whomever made it was the best in their class.

"You gonna _use_ that!" Azalea demanded, holding out her hand for the bottle. She had two waffles on her plate.

Severus shrugged, and then poured some of the syrup on his own waffle before passing the bottle to Azalea.

He took a tentative taste as he overheard Dawn telling DeWard that the honey was made right there on the Temple farm. He savored the richness of the waffle, and the strange taste of the syrup. It was different. He could not quite categorize the taste. But it was sweet. Sweeter than the syrup his mother used.

He decided he liked it.

"You never have maple syrup before?" Azalea demanded, her mouth full of waffle. Severus just shook his head, as his mouth was also full of waffle.

"What you use, then?" Azalea pressed.

"Treacle," Severus answered, to which Azalea wrinkled her nose.

"Sounds nasty!" she announced.

"Not everyone uses maple syrup," Angel interrupted. "I never used it before I came north."

"Whatchoo use, then?" Azalea inquired, gulping milk between bites of waffle.

"Honey," Yesmina answered.

"Fruit sauces," Angel added. "Mango, pomegranate…"

"_That_ sounds tasty!" Nierika exclaimed, placing a plate in front of Free that contained an omelet speckled with onion and green pepper and smothered in melted cheese. Next to it, she placed a plate with two thick slices of buttered toast made from a crusty loaf of homemade bread.

"Who'll have eggs?" she asked, looking at everyone else sitting at the table. Severus, Azalea, Yesmina, Angel and DeWard all raised their hands.

"I'll have mine over easy," Azalea stated, adding "Please," when Angel kicked her under the table and glared at her.

"What about the rest of you, how do you want yours?" Nierika inquired.

"Whatever's easiest for you, _ma'am_!" Angel exclaimed, making a face at Azalea. "But what you made for Free looks good…"

Nierika just laughed and turned back to the stove as Linda placed the now warm muffins in a basket and placed them on the table along with a plate of butter.

The children each eagerly grabbed a blueberry-stuffed muffin, which Dawn announced were grown right on their farm.

The butter melted into Severus' muffin, which he then used to wipe up the last vestiges of maple syrup from his plate.

"What's trickle?" Azalea asked Severus, wiping butter from her chin.

"What?" he asked in return, grabbing a napkin and wiping his own chin.

"That stuff you say you use instead o' syrup," she replied.

"It _is_ syrup," Severus retorted. "Just a different type. It's darker…"

"What's it _taste_ like?" she pressed.

Severus scowled.

"I dunno," he admitted. "It's sort of sweet, but not as sweet as this stuff. And it, well, sort of _tastes_ darker, too…"

"Isn't that what we call molasses over here?" Annie asked, replacing the now-empty bottle of milk on the table with a full one.

"I think it is," Linda interjected, buttering a stack of toast. "Or something pretty similar."

"I know what _that_ is!" Azalea exclaimed, as Nierika placed two perfectly fried over-easy eggs in front of her. "We use that down south all the time. But not on pancakes and waffles! It used to bake stuff and in some people's barbecue sauce, and my granny, she used to make me milkshakes with it!"

This last comment caused everyone to pause a few seconds as they all contemplated an ice-cold molasses milkshake. Except for Azalea, who eagerly grabbed two slices of toast from the stack that Linda placed on the table and commenced to eagerly wolf down her eggs.

In due course, the rest of the children who desired eggs were served their own plates of western omelets smothered in cheese. By the time they were finishing this last course, most of the fog had lifted and the sun was shining through the windows, revealing more of the farm outside of the back window.

Severus could see that there was an area just behind the house that was paved with flat stones, containing both an outdoor kitchen and a sitting area partially covered by a trellis that supported a lush, flowering vine of some sort. Behind this was some sort of garden, partially obscured by the hedges that grew on either side of what the others called the 'patio'. Beyond this garden, Severus could just make out acres of fields in the rapidly dissipating mist, and a large machine moving in one of them.

Severus emptied his glass of milk, and then stood up, put his dirty utensils in his cereal bowl that he then put on his plate, and carried them and his dirty glass over to the sink. Free did the same with her plate, but the other children just sat there, watching.

Linda was at the sink, but moved over with a look of surprise on her face when Severus started running the water and washing his own dishes. Free put her dirty plate and utensils into the sink and awaited her turn. As Severus finished washing and rinsing his bowl and plate and placed them into the drainer by the sink, he became aware for the first time that everyone other than Free was staring at him with a look of surprise.

"What?" he asked.

Janet laughed.

"_That's_ something that's not seen around here!" she exclaimed. "At least, not without a lot of prodding!"

She gave a pointed look at her own two children, who glanced away without saying anything.

Angel stood up without a word, stacked his dirty plate on top of DeWard's, and carried his and DeWard's dirty dishes over to the sink. He stood next to Free, and then glared back at Azalea and Yesmina as Severus finished washing his utensils and glass, rinsed them, and placed them into the drainer.

"If everyone washes their own dishes, it'll be done fast," Angel stated, turning to stare at Azalea. "Unless you expect others to do _everything_ for you!"

Azalea didn't say anything, just glared back at Angel and then noisily arose from the bench, dramatically grabbed her bowl, plate, glass and utensils, and haughtily brought them over to the sink. Yesmina on the other hand meekly gathered her own things and came over to stand in line, looking ashamed.

Steve and Dawn glanced at each other, and then followed the example of the others.

By this time, Free was washing her own dishes, and Severus had found a towel and was drying his own, which he placed on the table, not being sure where each item went. He then went over to sit by Judy who, whether it was due to the sun now shining on her, or the sudden flurry of activity in the kitchen, or the loud truck which could be heard out front which rattled the windows and the jars on the workbench, had awoken and was making a sort of chirping noise indicating dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.

Severus stroked her cheek, but Judy just screwed up her face and pushed his finger aside. Her contorted face then turned red, and she let out a sound the volume of which Severus thought would have been impossible for something that small to make.

He looked around in panic, spying Annie rushing over from the other side of the room

"I didn't do anything!" Severus exclaimed in fear. "I just brushed her cheek with my finger, really!"

Annie laughed as she reached them, putting her hand underneath Judy's dress and feeling her bottom.

"She's just unhappy because she has a wet diaper, Sev!" Annie chuckled, picking her daughter up out of the bassinette. She draped Judy over her shoulder, and looked at Severus, whose eyes were wide and who obviously was not convinced the answer was that simple.

Annie put her other hand around Severus' head and kissed him on his forehead.

"It's okay, Sev!" she exclaimed. "This is how babies tell us they need something!"

Annie then took Judy into the living room and went upstairs. Severus just stood there, not knowing what to do or say.

"Why don'tcha go help, Severus Snape?" Azalea taunted as she took her turn washing her dishes. "Learn sumthin' useful like how to change a dirty diaper!"

"They're called nappies back home," Severus answered stupidly. He had no idea why he had said that.

"So go learn to change _nappies_!" Azalea retorted, drying her items as Steve took his, Dawn's, and Yesmina's items and washed and rinsed all of them at the same time.

"You and Angel and Steve can all go learn to change _nappies_," Azalea continued to taunt. "And we girls will take ourselves a beauty nappy!" Azalea guffawed, as if this was the funniest joke ever made.

"As a matter of fact, Miss Smarty Pants," Steve interrupted, placing a plate into the drainer, "I _do_ have experience changing diapers! Maybe _you_ need to go practice doing it!"

A silence fell over the room; Severus knew that for Angel, Yesmina, and DeWard, this was just an insult that they expected Azalea to explode over. Only Severus understood how unintentionally cruel the insult was to her.

However, Azalea didn't explode; she just stuck her nose in the air and stated, "I ain't havin' no babies! I'm gonna be a famous fashion model! Talk to Yesmina, _she's_ the one's plannin' on havin' a whole mess o' babies!"

And with that, Azalea turned on her heel and very elegantly walked back to where she'd been sitting, as if she was walking on a runway modeling the latest fashion. However, as she sat back down, she glanced over at Severus, and he thought he saw a darkness behind her eyes that wasn't usually there.

"Why don't you and Dawn show the others around?" Janet prompted her son as he finished the dishes. "But make sure to see if your father needs any help…"

Steve hung the dishtowel on a peg and indicated for the others to follow him out the back door to the patio. Almost all of the fog had burned off, and the day promised to be sunny and hot.

"Whaddya wanna see first?" Steve asked, as if the others even had a clue as to what there was to see. The response was the inevitable group shrug.

"This is our herb garden," Dawn indicated, leading the way past the table and the large stone fireplace on the right. Severus could see under the trellis on the left was an extension of the farmhouse, which seemed to be used as some sort of work area.

As they reached the end of the patio and went through the opening in the elderberry bushes lining one side of the patio, Severus stopped short.

His mother had an herb garden back home, or as much of a garden as their tiny plot of council estate would allow. His mother worked hard on it, but it was still meager. She had said something once about poor soil, and poisons from the factory nearby.

The Temple Farm obviously did not have such a problem. This garden was huge, easily an acre in size, laid out in a decorative design with a path made out of paving stones. There was a seemingly endless variety of plants; Severus recognized most of them, and saw that the majority were usually used for culinary purposes. However, there were some that were medicinal, and some that were primarily used for scent. All had magickal properties, but he guessed that no one on the farm realized that.

Severus strolled down the path, mesmerized, as Dawn explained that everything in the garden was pesticide and herbicide-free and told them all about drainage and proper sunlight.

Severus didn't hear what else she had to say. He found himself in the middle of the garden where all the paths came together, and a bench had been placed for one to take time to enjoy the view and the scents. However, he did not sit down. He just slowly turned, taking it all in.

This had to be absolutely the most perfect garden in the world. Moreover, as if the herbs and flowers were not enough, there were the bees.

Absolutely the most ridiculously impossible bees. Bees as fat as a man's thumb. They should not be able to fly, but they did.

They were everywhere, especially at the most aromatic plants and flowers.

And they were singing.

Severus was sure of it. This was not normal, run-of-the-mill bee buzzing. These bees had different pitches of sound. There was music. There was harmony. They were singing a song of happiness and contentment and thanks.

Severus sat down, smiling. Yes, this _was_ the most perfect place in the world.

"Whatchoo smiling' at?" Azalea demanded, sitting next to him. He hadn't even noticed her come up.

"The bees," Severus answered.

"What about 'em?" she asked, looking around. "Too many bees!"

"No!" Severus replied. "They're just enough! Can't you hear them singing?"

Azalea looked at him strangely, but then sat listening.

"Sounds like they're humming," she admitted.

"Yes, they're happy," Severus stated. "They won't sting you, if that's what you fear. Not if you don't bother them. They're letting us know that they appreciate all of this…"

Azalea again gave Severus a strange look.

"You talked to 'em?" she laughed. "You talk bee talk?"

"Actually, Patrick says you _can_ talk to the bees," Dawn stated, as she and the others came up to them. "He's the one who keeps them, we'll show you the hives later…"

Steve and Dawn looked as if this had always been a foregone conclusion, but only Severus displayed any interest. Azalea looked at them as if they'd lost their minds, and even Free looked vaguely nervous. Angel, Yesmina, and DeWard, being mostly city kids, could only think of wasps and yellow-jackets.

But the next stop on the itinerary was not beehives, but to leave the herb garden by its back entrance, which brought them out onto a grassy knoll between the garden and the fields. At this point, they were joined by a large black-and-white dog that had the most ridiculously blue eyes that Severus had ever seen on a dog, not that he ever tried to be near dogs.

Steve and Dawn introduced him as "Jackson", and then described the fields, explaining that soybeans were grown in the one closest to them and alfalfa in the one beyond that, which was the field that currently had a harvester in it.

They then turned to the right and walked a few dozen yards before climbing back up the embankment to a large white building, from which was coming a herd of cows. No one was leading them; they just all seemed to know where they wanted to go as they turned left in front of the building and walked on the gravel path off into the distance. Jackson enjoyed nipping at their feet to hurry them along.

One black and white cow stopped, though, turning towards the children and mooing.

"Bessie!" Dawn cried out, running forward and throwing her arms around the cow's neck, which she had obligingly lowered to make it easier for the little girl to hug.

"Did you miss me?" Dawn asked, and the cow mooed as if in agreement.

"Hi, Bessie!" Steve laughed, rubbing her on her back and then tickling her behind her ear. "All set for Saturday?"

Bessie again mooed, and raised her head in such a way that Severus was sure she was nodding.

"Come meet Bessie!" Steve called out to the rest, gesturing for them to come over. However, no one moved.

"She won't bite!" Steve laughed, as the last of the cows passed by them.

"They big!" Azalea observed.

"Yeah, they're _cows_!" Steve answered.

It was DeWard and Free who made the first move. Free petted Bessie on the head, while DeWard tentatively reached out, Dawn guiding his hand, and rubbed her on her chest.

"We're entering her in the county fair this weekend!" Dawn announced proudly. "She's our prize cow!"

"Well, we _hope_ that she's our prize cow!" Steve corrected. "We're hoping she wins a prize at the fair, it's the first one we've ever entered…"

"Steve and I helped raise her from a calf!" Dawn added. "So she's sorta _our_ cow, not just the farm's cow!"

She hugged Bessie again, and kissed her on her cheek. Or what Severus thought must be a cow's cheek.

He was with Angel, Azalea, and Yesmina regarding this matter. Neither of them had yet to make a move towards the cow.

Severus had never had a pet. He was not quite sure how he should act around animals, nor even how he should really view them. He knew that certain animals had uses beneficial to humans; some animals were especially useful in the wizarding world, such as owls delivering messages.

Yet other animals were useful as a source of food; Bessie provided milk, but beyond that, he could not understand what function she served. She was big; she gave milk; she smelled somewhat unpleasant.

However, to Steve and especially to Dawn, Bessie was obviously much more. While Severus could not understand it, he decided that to be polite that he would feign interest and at least touch the thing.

Therefore, he slowly stepped forward and awkwardly patted the cow on her left flank. Apparently, Bessie was not expecting this, as she seemed to flinch at the touch and swung her hindquarters away with a loud complaining moo, turning her head and glaring at Severus. He in turn grabbed his hand away and almost fell down backing quickly away.

"You scared her!" Dawn complained.

"_Her_?! Severus retorted.

"You need to come up by her head, where she can see you," Steve explained. It was almost a challenge, a dare, and Severus decided that he was not going to let some dumb cow get the better of him.

He slowly approached Bessie again, this time coming up to her heard. Dawn held her bridle, but Bessie rolled her eyes and glared at Severus, as if she herself was daring him.

"Good cow," Severus muttered, tentatively reaching his hand out towards her head. "Good Bessie…"

He patted her gently behind her ear. Bessie flicked the ear, but mooed contentedly at the same time, not moving away. Severus scratched behind her ear, and she again mooed.

Severus decided that was enough cow-conquering for one day, and backed away.

"Don't you want to pet her, too?" Dawn asked, looking at Angel, Azalea, and Yesmina.

"I'm afraid," Yesmina admitted. Angel didn't say anything, just looked at Bessie suspiciously.

Azalea, though, walked up to Bessie, put one hand on top of her head and the other under her chin, and scratched both areas. Bessie indicated her approval of the gesture.

Steve raised an eyebrow at Azalea.

"I _told_ you my granny had a milk cow, once!"

"No you didn't!"

Before Azalea could answer, Dawn interrupted.

"You told _us_ this morning," she explained. "Remember?"

"Oh," Azalea answered. "I knew I told _someone_! Anyways, I been around cows…one at least, anyways…"

She continued to tickle Bessie.

"How about you two?" Steve asked, looking at Angel and Yesmina.

"That's okay, I'll pass," Angel muttered, not making a move.

"She doesn't bite!" Steve repeated.

"But she might kick," Yesmina observed, also not making a move towards the cow. Steve mused a few moments, and then sighed, smiling, stepping away from Bessie and giving her a swat on her hindquarters.

"Go catch up with the herd!" he told her, as Bessie started at his touch and stepped away in the direction the other cows had gone. "Else the best grass'll all be gone by the time you get there!"

Bessie mooed in seeming agreement, and turned to the left and quickly disappeared up the path.

"They know their own way to the pasture," Steve explained, leading them to the front of the building. There was a truck with a huge silver cylinder on the back parked in front. A wide hose went from an opening on top of the cylindrical tank into the building, and there was a loud noise.

"They're pumping this morning's milk into the tank," Dawn shouted over the noise. "Then it's taken to be pasteurized!"

Severus had no idea what that meant, and was not about to shout to ask for an explanation.

"Come on, we'll show you the chickens!"

They made their way over to the building they had parked next to the night before. Quite some distance away, the sounds made it obvious what this building was used for.

However, Severus still was not prepared for the sight inside the barn.

Yes, there were chickens. Hundreds of them. Two hundred sixty eight to be exact, according to Dawn. And five roosters, none of which seemed to be in a particularly friendly mood.

To Severus, it was rather frightening. He decided that at that moment, he would much rather go find the herd of cows and pet each and every one of them.

Luckily, neither Dawn nor Steve had made a pet of either a chicken or the foul-mooded male fowl, so there was no insistence that anyone try to pet one of the birds.

Dawn explained that the chickens and roosters only received organic feed and minimal inoculations, and that they averaged 250 to 300 eggs laid a day. Those eggs that they didn't keep for themselves they sold to a local farm cooperative. Dawn added that they hoped to eventually get the flock up to about 500 or more chickens.

Severus did not even want to contemplate that many chickens in one place. He was very glad when they left the chickens, but his anxiety returned at their next stop.

The pictures he had seen in books at schools never indicated the true size of a pig.

Pigs, Severus found out at their next stop, were big. Very big. These were some big pigs.

Smallest one was just under 750 pounds, according to Dawn; the largest one was over half a ton.

Only DeWard shared Dawn and Steve's enthusiasm for the pigs; even Free decided on discretion and held back with the others as the pigs crowded toward them.

"Does your grandmother have pigs?" Severus whispered to Azalea.

"Only pigs granny ever has is dead an' bein' barbecued!" Azalea whispered back.

"Good!" Severus exclaimed softly.

Jackson, having gotten bored with the cows, returned, and joined the children as they completed their tour of the farm by being shown various fields; Severus enjoyed eating a tomato picked fresh off a bush. He had never liked fresh tomatoes before tasting this one, the only ones he'd had before now were pale and hard things that his mother would occasionally pick up at the local market to put into a green salad.

They started back to the main house for lunch by way of the berry orchard, where the fat bees that Severus had seen in the herb garden were happily singing amongst the blueberry bushes, and obligingly moved out of the way to allow the children to pick sweet, ripe berries the size of nickels and pop them in their mouths, and occasionally oblige Jackson, who deftly caught every berry tossed his way. At the end of the orchard were the beehives, with the fat singing bees happily buzzing away.

'I'll show you my place after lunch," Steve announced, as they neared the main house.

"_Your_ place?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, I have my own place set up in the hay barn down there," he replied, gesturing to a large red building at the end of the complex of buildings. "Dad said I could use the loft to use for myself, I even sleep out there when the weather's good. That's where you all will be sleeping…"

Everyone except Free exchanged nervous glances as they walked through the herb garden and passed the opening in the bushes to the patio. Sleep in a hayloft?

However, before anyone could ask any more questions, they themselves were inundated with a shower of unending questions.

"Stee-Dawn-webeenwaiting_forever_foryou, mommiesaidnottobotheryoubutyoubeengonesolong, howwastheconcert, didyoubringusanything, whoareyou?"

There were only two of them, a little girl whom Severus thought might be about three years old, and a boy who looked like her brother, who was perhaps a year older. However, they and the barking Jackson moved around them so fast, there could have been five times their number.

"Who are you?" the little girl repeated, staring first at Angel, then at Severus, then at the girls. The little boy glared at DeWard and also demanded, "Who are you?"

Steve and Dawn laughed, Dawn hugging the little boy and Steve hugging the girl and picking her up.

"Hey, Sunshine!" he admonished her. "Don't I even get a hello, if not a kiss?"

The girl looked surprised and ashamed, and then bent over and gave Steve a kiss on his cheek, hugging his neck.

"Hewo," she said, pulling away. "Did you bring me anything? Who are these kids? They come to stay?"

"Maybe I brought you something back, maybe I didn't," Steve said slyly, causing the little girl to pout. "You'll just have to wait to find out. These are friends we met at the concert…"

He gestured with his free arm.

"April, I'd like you to meet Angel, Severus, Azalea, Yesmina, Free, and DeWard. Kids, meet April Bouchard and her brother Andrew."

Steve gave a pointed look at Azalea.

"Now you know why _I_ know how to change diapers!"

Before Azalea could come back with a retort, Andrew excitedly exclaimed, "There's a _baby_ in there!" He pointed to the house. "They brought a _baby_! Are we keeping her?"

He turned and glared at DeWard.

"Who are you? Where are you from? Are you going to stay with us?"

DeWard just stood there with his mouth open.

"His name's DeWard," Dawn admonished. "And you are acting rude, Andy!"

Andrew pouted.

"I'm from New York," DeWard offered. Now it was Andrew's turn to stand with his mouth open.

"Newwork!" April mused in awe. "That's farwaway!"

"Yes," Steve agreed. "Angel, Yesmina, and Azalea are all from there…"

Andrew and April obviously found this impressive.

"And I'm from California," Free offered. This was also an impressive bit of information for the two little children.

"And Severus here's from England!" Steve added.

This final bit of information unfortunately did _not_ impress the two.

"You know, England. The country!" Steve prompted, jogging April up and down in his arms. "Where the Beatles come from…"

"Beatles…" Andrew mused.

"And Herman's Hermits," Dawn added. "You know that song, _I'm Henry the Eighth I Am_?"

It was obviously a song the children were familiar with, but the effect was that now Andrew stared at Severus as if he were a bug ready to be used for some experiment.

"England's _very_ far away," Steve continued. "It's on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean…"

However, since neither child had ever even seen an ocean, this information was not particularly helpful to them.

"Just ask him to say somethin'," Azalea announced, deciding she was too hungry to wait any longer, and starting to walk into the patio. "He talk funny…"

"I do _not_ talk funny!" Severus exclaimed. "_You_ talk funny!"

"Aw, dude!" Angel sighed. "You better get them chain-mail chaps made 'fore you go insultin' her like that!"

Azalea turned on her heel and glared at them.

"_I_ don't talk funny, I just talk country cuz I come from Louisiana and not _Nuevo Yawk_!"

She stood there glaring, hands on her hips.

"Well, _senorita_, if you wanna get _technical_ about it," Angel responded, "_I_ come from Puerto Rico, and New Jersey, before I ended up in New York!"

"Oh, so _that's_ why _you_ talk so funny, _senor_!" Azalea retorted. "_You_ speak _Noo Joisey_ before you speak _Nuevo Yawk_!"

"Oh, like wow, man!" Free interrupted. "This is like, too heavy, man! This isn't where it's at, man! It's all groovy! Like, we're from everywhere, man! And now we're, like, all together, man. It's far out! It's like the cosmos planned it that way! So we should all, like, just go with the flow and get it on, man!"

Azalea just looked at her, and then snorted a laugh and put her arm around Free's shoulder, and the two of them led the way into the patio.

"I do _not_ talk funny!" Severus complained.

"Let it drop, dude," Angel advised, following Yesmina through the bushes. Severus looked over at the others.

"You _all_ talk funny!" Andrew exclaimed.

Severus just shook his head, and went through the bushes, followed by the others.

The outdoor table was laid out with plates, silverware, and glasses. Two big pitchers of lemonade were at either end of the table.

Lunch consisted of salad made from the greens and tomatoes grown on the farm, and hamburgers and hotdogs cooked on the outdoor stove, served on homemade crusty rolls. Jackson excitedly, but politely, sat on the patio by the end of the table and eagerly caught any treats tossed his way.

Dessert was homemade oatmeal raisin cookies, and a type of sundae made of berries, granola, and vanilla yogurt layered in a paper cup to make individual servings for each child.

The yogurt was a new experience for everyone except the farm children and Free, but it was quickly decided that it was indeed quite tasty. The yogurt, they found out, was homemade on the farm, and Free's mother Nierika indicated interest in learning how to make it. Severus thought that it would be a good thing to learn, and so he mentioned that he would like to learn also, to everyone's surprise.

After lunch, they put the uneaten oatmeal cookies into a paper bag, and then gathered up their belongings from the vehicles they were in, and followed Steve to the hay barn. Andrew and April were quite unhappy to learn that they were not to be allowed to go along, their mother Corrine telling them that it was just for bigger kids, and besides it was time for Andrew and April's nap.

The day had turned hot, and there was barely any air moving. As they entered the cavernous barn, they stopped to allow their eyes to adjust to the darkness. The only sound was of cicadas noisily buzzing all around them, and Severus was sure that he could catch the music of the singing bees somewhere in the distance.

But other than the distant sound of some machinery in the field, and the occasional mooing of a cow off in their own field, the only other sound came from the humming of a refrigerator in the corner of the barn by the door.

At the far end of the barn was a loft that was about 20 feet wide, from which something that was not quite a stairs, but yet not quite a ladder, came down to their level. The rest of the barn was open to the roof, some three stories above. Severus could just make out things hanging from the ceiling, but he could not quite make out what they were.

On the main floor were stored bales of hay amongst which were old tractors that looked like they no longer worked.

Jackson clambered up the steps, obviously used to the climb, and Steve sprang up the after him, lowering a large wooden crate via a rope and pulley system once he got to the top.

"Open up that icebox you'll find soda pop inside!" he instructed.

The children all looked at each other, and it was finally Dawn, DeWard, and Free who went over to the refrigerator and retrieved different flavors of soda from within, which they then put into the crate for Steve to lift up to the loft.

"Come on up!" he charged, as he lowered the empty crate again. "Anything you can't carry up the ladder just put in here…"

Yesmina put her bag in the crate before climbing up, but the rest of the children were able to manage to climb up while carrying their own bags.

When Severus reached the top, he like the others just stood there, taking the scene in.

There were bales of hay up here, but Steve had arranged them into chairs and sofas that were covered with old blankets, quilts, and old pillows. A couple of huge pillows were strewn on the floor. There was a table made out of an old trunk and bales of hay, over which was placed a brightly colored oilcloth, around which were arranged bales of hay as chairs. A couple of battered metal folding chairs, and what looked to have once been a nightstand before it had spent many seasons outdoors, were the only pieces of "real" furniture to be seen.

On top of this night table was a small television set, plugged into a vine of extension cords that snaked their way up to the one electric light that hung overhead. Another wire snaked its way from the television out a large door on this level, to which an aerial antenna was attached, hanging from a metal hook that extended some 10 or so feet beyond this door.

There was also a portable record player, and a clock radio, plugged into the extension cord.

There was also a calico cat sitting on top of the television, staring at them. She then stood up, stretched, and stalked past them and down the steps, obviously put out that her space had been invaded.

"That's Maggie," Steve announced. "She and the other cats help keep the rodent population down…"

This announcement had the result of everyone except his sister holding their belongings close to their bodies and looking suspiciously around the loft.

"Don't worry!" Steve laughed. "There's no mice here!"

"What _is_ this place, dude?" Angel asked.

"It's my 'alone' place," Steve replied. "Dad said I could have it to get away from anyone too small to be able to climb the steps…"

He looked pointedly at Dawn, who had a smug expression that to Severus looked like she may have just enjoyed eating something that Maggie had just caught.

"Of course, there comes a time when little ones get bigger…" Steve allowed. Dawn just nodded vigorously.

"Anyways," Steve continued, taking Angel and Free's bags from them and putting them down by the bale-of-hay couch, "this is a place where I can have friends over, and not be bothered. Usually."

He again looked at his sister, who still smiled smugly.

"Feel free to make yourselves at home," Steve offered. "But you gotta watch it if you wanna smoke…the hay and all…"

Azalea picked up an ashtray that was on the makeshift table, and held it up questioningly. Steve shifted nervously and glanced at Dawn.

"He thinks I don't know that he smokes up here," she responded. "He thinks I don't know that he hides cigarettes up here…that he and his friends play cards and sneak drinking beer up here!"

Steve glared at her.

"He thinks I don't know that he hides the cigarettes the same place he hides those _magazines_!"

Dawn looked as triumphant as Steve looked crestfallen. Azalea and Yesmina both smirked when Dawn mentioned the word "magazines", while Angel looked embarrassed for Steve. Free was her usual serene self, but Severus noticed that DeWard looked as confused as he himself felt. Of the litany of items that Dawn had mentioned, the magazines seemed to be the most upsetting to her brother.

What sort of magazines would Steve hide, and why?

"Maybe you show us those magazines later!" Azalea laughed, also looking strangely triumphant as she tossed her bag into a corner, and then grabbed a soda from the crate, popped it open, and took a deep drink.

This was a welcome break of the tension, as the other children scrambled for sodas also.

"So what else is on the agenda?" Azalea inquired.

"Oh! Uhhh…" Steve began, obviously still shaken by the realization that his baby sister knew some of his most closely kept secrets. "It's up to you…we could hang out here until supper, or there's a lake where we could go swimming, if you want…"

"There's a lake?" Yesmina asked, looking out the doors. "Is it far?"

"Not too far," Dawn answered. "It's through the woods there…"

She pointed to the trees on the edge of the farm.

"It's about a mile, but it's a cool walk cuz of the trees," Steve added. "We could go now, or wait until after supper."

"When's that?" Azalea demanded.

"Around five, five-thirty," Dawn answered. "In the winter, that's when the cows have come back and been put in their barn. This time of year they stay out in the field overnight, though…"

As if in affirmation, a couple of soft moos could be heard from the field the cows were in.

"Let's watch TV, then," Azalea announced. "We can go swimming after we eat, wash up at the same time."

She threw her bag on the floor and turned the TV on, but the screen only glowed with static and snow.

"You gotta play with the antenna sometimes," Steve explained, leaning out the double hay doors, supporting himself on the swinging metal arm with the hook at the end to which the antenna was precariously attached, and reattaching a wire that had come loose.

This resulted in a very ghosty image on the screen. Steve moved the arm slowly until the image on the screen came into focus.

As Azalea slowly switched from one channel to another, Steve explained, "We get all the Terre Haute channels and usually even Indianapolis, and sometimes, depending on how I adjust the antenna, I've even gotten channels all the way from St. Louis and Frankfort!"

He came over and turned a few knobs.

"See, I have both VHF and UHF! On a good day, I've gotten _eighteen_ channels between the two frequencies! But usually I just get eight or nine VHF, and two or three UHF channels…"

Angel raised his eyebrows and sat down on the couch.

"That's _still_ good, dude!" he exclaimed, obviously impressed. "In the city, we were lucky to get maybe four or five channels, and we always had to be moving the antenna!"

Severus did not understand any of this talk, and neither did he care, since the result was that everyone else suddenly became silent and intently stared at the screen as the same soap operas that they had watched on Tuesday were broadcast.

Someone had discovered someone with somebody else on _General Hospital_ and Jesse was still all unhappy and full of angst, but not much else seemed to have happened. And on _Dark Shadows_, they were still mostly getting everything about the magickal world wrong.

Therefore, Severus took out his smock and his pop-tops, and continued to work on fashioning himself a chain-mail shirt.

_Dark Shadows_ ended, and the channel was switched so that they could watch the end of a program by the name of _The Mike Douglas Show. _The host seemed to Severus to be a nice enough man, but the woman named Phyllis who Severus was told was the "co-host" seemed silly, and Severus did not understand her jokes or what was discussed on the show. However, the occasional singing was nice enough.

Just as the show was going off the air, there was a clanging of some sort of bell coming from the direction of the main house.

"That's supper!" Dawn exclaimed, scrambling to her feet and to the steps. "Come on!"

No one had any argument to this statement, so they eagerly clambered down from the loft and eagerly walked towards the house.

Severus thought he was full. He'd had the most amazing breakfast he had ever had in his life, and a more-than-satisfying lunch, and an afternoon of soda and delicious homemade cookies.

However, his stomach told him otherwise as they got closer to the house, and their noses were seduced by wonderful smells issuing from the patio.

The doors to the kitchen were opened wide, and people were sitting at both tables. The children grabbed seats at the outdoor table, not the least because this was closer to the food being cooked on the outdoor stove.

However, the indoor stove and kitchen was also in full use, and supper seemed to have turned into a communal project as both members of the Temple farm and of the Hog Farm made various dishes. Even Annie had found time to make her spaghetti sauce, which tonight was instead served over rigatoni pasta.

There was cornbread and homemade coleslaw with apples and walnuts in it, and creamy macaroni salad full of fresh vegetables. Running half the length of the table was a wooden platter on which was layered slices of ripe, ruby-red tomatoes, leaves of basil, and slabs of milky-white, homemade mozzarella cheese. Sprinkled on top were slices of what Severus recognized as olives, both black and green ones; but he wasn't sure what the other items sprinkled on top were, until someone explained that they were capers and anchovies.

Corn was roasting on the grill, and some of it had been turned into a type of salad by Free's father by removing the cooked kernels from the cob and utilizing chopped plum tomatoes, chopped onion, and diced peppers ("Hot peppers," Isaac warned), and some spices that the Swann's had brought along with them on their trip. Free, Angel, and Yesmina eagerly accepted large helpings of this.

Severus eagerly accepted large helpings of everything. Including the two types of chicken, even before he thought to ask Dawn if they had met any of the chickens earlier that day. She assured them that he had not met what he was currently eating.

There was "barbecued" chicken that was actually cooked in the oven with a type of sauce; and there was chicken that was just grilled on the outdoor stove. For Severus they were equally delicious.

Dessert was a type of drink created via a large blender that whipped vanilla ice cream with raspberries and the skin of an orange grated into it. This was something new for Severus. He had never seen his mother utilizing the peel of an orange, either in cooking or in making a potion. He made a mental note to ask her about it sometime.

This concoction was poured into tall glasses, topped with crushed cookies, and then served to the children. The cookies tasted somewhat like almonds.

Severus noticed that when another batch of this drink was being made for the adults, that a bottle of some sort of liqueur was added.

"Wish _we_ got that!" Azalea whispered to him.

"What is it?" Severus whispered back.

"Amaretto," Azalea answered. "It tastes like almonds. Maybe we can sneak the bottle out afterwards!"

"No!" Severus whispered vehemently. "That'd be stealing! These people have given us so much already!"

Azalea looked at him, and then smirked and turned back to her drink, which was so thick that she decided to eat it with a spoon.

The children finished what was called a "smoothie", and as it became obvious that the adults were planning on having more "adult smoothies", Azalea announced that it was time to go swimming.

And so it was that a short time later Severus found himself walking through the woods, helping to carry a bag filled with soap and towels which Azalea and Yesmina had insisted on bringing. The two girls had also made sure that they had put on swimsuits, even though both Steve and Dawn assured them that 'everyone' went skinny-dipping.

The path was dirt and just wide enough for perhaps a tractor or a wagon to pass through. The tree branches hung down, and there was quite a bit of undergrowth, so that it was rather dark, and quite a bit cooler than the surrounding countryside. Severus thought that it was beautiful, but Azalea and Yesmina deemed it 'scary', and even Angel and DeWard looked nervous.

Free, who had changed into one of her long dresses, decided that it reminded her of one of the forests in California that she and her parents had camped out in the year before, which she announced was 'far out, man'.

After about 20 minutes they could hear voices of children shouting up ahead, and they soon came to a clearing where, to their left, was a small lake.

Some boys about Steve's age were swinging from a rope that hung from a tree branch that overhung the lake, and then letting go when they swung over the lake. A couple of girls about the same age were swimming in the general area, and would squeal when one of the boys splashed down too close to them. Only the girls were wearing bathing suits.

Azalea and Yesmina looked at each other.

"Seems to me we been here before!" she stated in disgust. Yesmina's face grew pink.

However, Dawn and DeWard had gone running down to the water's edge as soon as they had entered the clearing, and soon had their clothes off and were in the water, as some of the other children called out.

"Dawn! You're back! How was the concert? We saw it on TV! Where's your brother? Oh!"

The other children noticed Steve and the others for the first time as they came down to the shore's edge. Free just smiled, and without a word took off her clothes and plunged into the water, doing a breaststroke out to a platform some dozen yards from shore.

Three wet, naked boys about Steve's age came up to the group.

"Steve! When did you get back?"

"Hi, Jay! David! Rusty! Late last night," Steve answered.

"How was the concert?"

"Far out, man!" Steve answered. His friends stared at Steve's entourage, their gaze lingering on Azalea and then turning to look out at Free, who had reached the platform and was now swimming back in their direction.

"Who are your friends?" Jay asked, turning back to Steve.

"We met at Woodstock," Steve explained. "Jay, David, Rusty, these are Angel, Azalea, Yesmina, and Severus. That's DeWard with Dawn, and that's Free out there swimming…"

Steve's friends turned to again look at Free, who had now reached Dawn and DeWard in the shallow part of the lake and was playing with them.

Severus did not like the looks on their faces.

"'Free', huh?" Jay laughed slyly. "Just how 'free' _is _she?"

"That's _Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly_ to you assholes!" Azalea almost screamed at them, balling up a fist as Yesmina took a few steps back. But the trio either didn't notice, or were not impressed with Azalea's outburst.

"She's one of those hippie chicks we read about!" Rusty chuckled, almost drooling as he dug an elbow into David's side. "You know what _they're_ like!"

Severus waited for the inevitable result, but was surprised when it came from Angel and not Azalea.

Rusty lay in the dirt, rubbing his jaw, not knowing what had just happened. Angel stood over him, both hands balled up into fists, glaring from Rusty, to Jay, and then to David.

"Like she said, her name's _Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly_ to you assholes!"

Rusty scrambled to his feet as Jay and David made moves toward Angel, and Severus was afraid a fight was going to ensue.

However, Azalea stepped forward and her hand darted out and grabbed Jay by his crotch, her nails starting to dig into his genitals.

"You all sorta at a _disadvantage_ if'n you wanna fight!" she announced.

"_**STOP IT!!**_" Steve screamed. "_What is __**wrong**__with all of you?"_

"They insult my friend, what's wrong with _me_!" Azalea answered, letting go of Jay. "They's pigs, bigger 'n' fatter pigs than what you got back there!"

"They disrespected Free, they insulted her honor," Angel growled softly, his hands still in fists.

"Yes, yes they did," Steve admitted, turning to the three boys. "There was no call for that, you three. Free's a nice girl, you should apologize for what you said…Jay, you wouldn't like it if someone talked about Libby that way, and you Rusty, you'd tear anyone apart who said about Jill what you just said about Free…"

The trio bowed their heads in shame as Dawn, DeWard, and Free came up to see what all the commotion was about.

"I'm sorry," each boy mumbled in turn, first to Angel and Azalea, and then to a very confused Free.

"It's just that usually, girls around here, by your age, they don't skinny dip no more," Jay tried to explain.

"She's a _naturist_!" Azalea announced, almost proudly. "She from California, they do that out there!"

"Where in California?" Rusty asked, eager to change the subject.

"Los Angeles," Free answered, laughing. "What did I miss?"

"Nothin'!" Angel mumbled, finally unballing his fists and sitting down and taking his sandals off. Azalea followed suit, pouting.

Severus noticed how eagerly the three boys watched Azalea take her jeans and top off, and the fleeting disappointment displayed on their faces when it became obvious that Azalea was not a naturist and was instead wearing a bathing suit.

Yesmina glanced over at Severus, still clutching her bag to her chest. Severus shrugged.

"I am not from California. I am not a naturist. I just want to cool off," he announced, kicking off his shoes, taking off all his clothes, and then running and grabbing the rope hanging from the tree and swinging out over the water and dropping in.

It hurt. He did not know why he did it, he just knew that at that point he wanted to get away from the drama. He did not know that when you hit water from a height that it could feel like a hard slap.

However, the water was rather warm, so after the initial shock of impact, he actually enjoyed the feeling of floating under the water. It sounded like Azalea was arguing with the boys again, perhaps with Yesmina's help, but the water thankfully muffled what was being said.

He opened his eyes, and saw that it was rather green down here. A fish swum past his face.

Then he remembered that he was not sure that he knew how to swim.

He looked up, saw that the top was about ten feet above his head, and he frantically moved his arms and kicked his legs as he had seen Free doing. At least he hoped he was doing it the same way.

He felt his head breaking the surface of the lake, and he took a deep breath when suddenly there was a loud splash close by and a wave crashed over his head. He opened his eyes to see Free next to him, and then suddenly there was a cacophony of splashes and small tidal waves crashing over him, as Steve, Jay, David, and Rusty all came crashing down into the water around him.

"They thought you couldn't swim," Free told Severus, pointing to the shore where Angel, Azalea, Yesmina and DeWard all stood. Dawn was swimming out to them.

"Looks like he can!" Rusty announced. "Glad we didn't have to rescue you after all!"

"Yes, it does look like I can," Severus mused, the most surprised of all.

"You okay?" Dawn asked she came up to them.

"Yes, thank you," Severus answered. "It seems that swimming is a skill that I did not realize I had…"

Steve looked to the others on shore and raised his arm, giving a thumbs-up as Free gave an "ok" sign.

"It's fun," Free told him. "And my old man says it's, like, good exercise…"

"Why don't we race each other back to shore?" Dawn asked. Severus could not see any objection, so he, Free and Dawn raced each other back as Steve stayed behind and played with his friends.

Severus was not surprised that Free won the race, but he was pleasantly surprised that he and Dawn tied for second place.

Azalea was standing at the water's edge, arms crossed, tapping her foot.

"When you learn to swim?" she demanded as Severus came out of the water. He just shrugged.

The next thing he knew he was being pummeled. But not by Azalea.

"_Severus Snape you asshole!_" Yesmina screamed as she beat at him with her fists, tears streaming down her face. "_You said you didn't know how to swim! I thought you were drowning, you shit-for-brains good-for-nothing bastard! See if I care next time you need help!_"

Each word was punctuated by a punch to somewhere on Severus' body.

Severus looked to Angel for help, but Angel just stood there, tears in his eyes.

"I don't know how to swim!" he sobbed, turning away.

Severus looked to Azalea as Yesmina, sobbing, grabbed her bag and screamed, "_You mother-fucking prick!_" and swung it at Severus, hitting him and causing him to lose his footing and fall hard onto his butt. There was something particularly uncomfortable pressing into a sensitive spot, but Severus dared not move.

"Do you need any help?"

It was the two girls who had been swimming out in the lake.

"Looks like my baby sister got it in hand!" Azalea announced smugly, but she then grabbed the almost hysterical Yesmina's hand and softly said to her, "Come on," as she led her down to the shore's edge and helped her take off her clothes, and then led her a few feet into the water and helped her wash.

Dawn didn't say anything, just took the rather shell-shocked looking DeWard by the hand and joined Azalea and Yesmina.

The two girls looked down at the naked Severus, and then from Angel to Free.

"My name's Jill," one of them said, offering her right hand to Free, who took it and shook it. "This is my friend Libby…"

Libby also shook Free's hand.

"My name's Freedom Moonbeam Butterfly," Free stated. "Most everyone just calls me 'Free'…"

She looked over to Angel, who still had his back turned.

"This is my friend, Angel, and this is my friend Severus…"

She gestured to Severus, who still had not moved. Jill and Libby stared at him.

"Are you okay?" Jill finally asked.

"Uhhh…yes," Severus stammered. "I am fine. Just fine. Never been better."

The two girls did not look convinced.

Free reached out and caressed Angel's back, but he shrugged her off.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to the others," Free told Jill and Libby, leading them down to the water, leaving Angel and Severus alone.

Severus gladly stood up, rubbing the sore spot on his butt.

Angel loudly sobbed and turned to face Severus, tears streaming down his face.

"I don't know how to swim!" he cried.

"I know…" Severus replied, confused.

"Why you _do_ that, dude? If you was drownin', I couldn't help you!"

Angel broke out in tears and sank to his knees.

"I…I'm sorry," Severus stammered. "I don't know why I did it…or rather, I just wanted to get away. I wasn't thinking…I just wanted to get away from all of the drama…"

He laughed, but there was no mirth to it.

"All I did was create some more!"

Angel laughed at the statement and looked up.

"You fucked up real good, asshole!" he laughed. Severus let the insult slide. He was glade to see his friend laughing. He offered Angel his hand, and helped him to get to his feet.

"Thank you," Severus stated. Angel stared at him, confused.

"For what? I didn't do anything!"

"For caring. For being my friend," Severus answered. Angel just shrugged.

"It's nothing'!" Angel mumbled.

"No it is not. Believe me, I know. It is actually rather special."

He and Angel just stared at each other.

"Okay," Angel finally said. "In my culture, two guys would usually hug each other right now and slap each other on the back? But dude, you ain't got no clothes on, so I ain't goin' there!"

"What is that saying? 'I will take a rain check'?" Severus laughed, and Angel did too.

"Or, 'It's the thought that counts'!" Angel answered, and then he sighed, running his hand through his hair and looking out at Steve and his friends farther out in the water. "Guess I'll have to hang with the girls, Steve and the rest are too far out in the water for me…"

He turned back to Severus.

"You comin' back in?" he asked. Severus shook his head.

"I think Yesmina will next bloody my nose," he stated. "I wanted to _avoid_ any more drama, so I think I will just head back to the loft…"

Angel looked at his friend, nodded, and then joined the girls in the water.

Severus quickly dressed and started back on the path through the woods.

It was perhaps an hour before sunset, but within a few yards of entering the woods, it was so dark it could have been night. The birds had been singing their evensong as he entered the woods, but as the darkness grew, sound seemed to correspondingly diminish.

Severus loved these woods. He was not sure why…but with each step, it felt like he was going home. He felt he belonged here, that in some way these woods were beckoning to him.

Through the silence, Severus could hear what could only be described as the whispering of many voices. However, he did not think it was human whispering. It was issuing from the trees and the bushes, the soil and the very rocks themselves.

In the bag around his neck that Free had macraméd for him yesterday, the strange stone that he had found on Tuesday evening vibrated. Whatever was also in the woods, it felt it too.

His mother had told him about The Forbidden Forest that bordered the grounds at Hogwarts. He wondered if this was a similar type of woods. He could almost believe that centaurs and other magickal creatures could live here.

As if in answer to his thoughts, he became aware of something on the path behind him coming at him at great speed. He turned to look back down the path, and could just make out something running towards him. It was hard to make out the shape, as it was not tall. It seemed to be running on four legs, and he thought he heard its nails scraping on the stones and gravel of the path, and something like a huffing sound.

Severus was strangely calm. He was more curious than afraid.

Then disappointed, as Jackson came to a skidding stop besides him. The dog was panting, and seemed surprised to find Severus there.

"_Hrrruff_!" Jackson huffed, cocking his head and staring at Severus with those ridiculously blue eyes, which seemed to glow in the semi-darkness.

"_Hrrruff_!" the dog repeated, twirling around and then turning its head to the woods, and back to Severus.

Annoying dog. Here he had been hoping to see a centaur, and all he got was this shaggy mutt.

"_Hrrruff_!" Jackson huffed, seemingly as exasperated as Severus.

The dog sat down, but then immediately got to its feet, twirled around, stared at the woods and then back at Severus.

"_Hrrruff!_"

What did the damn, bothersome cur _want_? Severus was not familiar with dogs. He did not particularly care for them. They seemed too needy, to demanding.

"Go herd some cows, or whatever it is that you do around here!" Severus complained. Stupid. Like the dog would actually understand what he said.

"_Hrrruff!_" Jackson huffed, and Severus got the distinct feeling that the dog thought him dumber than dirt.

A stick. That is what he needed. Dogs liked to fetch sticks. If he could find a stick, he could throw it for Jackson to fetch. Throw it deep into the woods. Maybe the dog would get lost for hours. Maybe days.

Severus peered into the dark underbrush on his side of the path. He could not find any suitable stick on the ground, but decided that a sucker growing from the base of a bush would suffice, so he took his pocketknife out of his satchel and cut the sucker at its base, stripping the leaves off of it.

Jackson had sat quietly and cocked his head from one side to the other as he watched with curiosity what Severus was doing. The dog then sprang to his feet as Severus came back with the stick.

"_Hrrruff!_" Jackson huffed, spinning around and then facing the woods on the opposite side of the path. Severus interpreted this to mean that the dog approved of the stick and was anticipating it being thrown. Severus took the stick in his right hand, drew his arm back as far as possible and prepared to throw the stick into the woods across the way.

He froze.

"_Hrrruff!"_ Jackson huffed triumphantly, as he realized that the dumb human finally had figured out what was going on. He happily wagged his tail, turning his head from the stupid human boy to the thing in the woods, and back. _"Hrrruff!"_

"'Hrrruff', indeed," Severus whispered, lowering his arm but not diverting his gaze from the spot in the woods just ten or so feet away.

It was hard to see in the dark. Especially since it was not moving.

However, Severus was sure it was the same sort of creature he had seen at the campsite in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night.

But there was something slightly different about this particular creature. It seemed smaller than what he had seen the other night. In addition, it was obviously aware not only of Severus, but of Jackson as well. It was staring at them both, but Severus sensed no fear from it, and Jackson was obviously not afraid of it.

It dawned on Severus that Jackson and this creature had actually been _playing_ with each other when they came upon Severus. And that both creatures were not only surprised to find him there, but were equally surprised that he could actually see the shadow creature.

Severus heard voices and turning, could just make out the girls and DeWard outlined in the sunlight at the end of the path, as they entered the woods. Jackson barked, a real dog bark this time, and scrambled back down the path towards them.

Severus turned back to the shadow creature, but it had disappeared.

He decided to wait for the others.

"What, you afraid of the dark, need us to protect you?" Azalea taunted, as they came up to him. Severus just smiled a half-smile.

"Far from it," he stated. "I thought that _you_ might need protection!"

He had meant it as a joke, but noticed that Azalea had stopped smiling, and she and Yesmina glanced nervously into the woods on both sides of the path.

"What's here?" Azalea asked nervously. "Anything that bites?"

"It's scary," Yesmina complained.

"Not really," Dawn answered. "It's an _odd_ woods, but not scary. I come here all the time."

"And do _what_?" DeWard demanded, looking from side-to-side nervously.

"Play," Dawn answered. "With Jackson. Sometimes with April and Andrew, now that they're a little older. There's a clearing a mile or so in that's nice to camp at…older kids go there all the time…"

She gave a pointed look to Jill and Libby, who had decided to come back with them. The two girls tried to look as if they had no idea what Dawn was talking about.

They continued up the path back to the Temple farm. Severus thought it interesting that no one had thought to press Dawn on her statement that the woods were 'odd'; he made a mental note to ask her about it later.

They returned to the loft, and Azalea decided that Dawn should show them the magazines that Steve was hiding. Dawn obligingly lifted a floorboard in the loft, retrieved a key that was hidden there, and then told them to take the oilcloth off of the trunk.

She then unlocked the trunk to reveal a stack of magazines, and a couple of cartons of Kent cigarettes. Jill opened a pack of the cigarettes and gave a couple to Libby, and then offered some to Azalea.

"I don't smoke…" Azalea declined, adding, "…cigarettes…"

Libby and Jill both lit up, and then joined Azalea in perusing the stack of magazines.

The girls laughed at the various pictures of naked women that graced the covers and the inner pages of the magazines. Both Severus and DeWard also looked at the pictures, but Severus could tell that DeWard was as confused as he was.

"Don'tcha find them sexy?" Azalea prompted, waving a centerfold in Severus' face.

"I dunno," Severus mumbled. He was not sure what 'sexy' really meant, let alone how one was supposed to look it. "They're pretty enough, I suppose…"

"Yeah, but do you think they look sexy?" Jill prodded. For Severus it did not help that in many ways, Jill reminded him of Lily, perhaps how Lily would look when she was 13 or 14.

"They look uncomfortable," Severus answered. In response to the girls' surprised looks, he grabbed the centerfold in question and mimicked the pose. DeWard giggled.

"Tell me this does _not_ look _stupid_!" he exclaimed.

"Of _course_ it looks stupid when _you_ do it!" Libby responded. "You're a _boy_, boys don't look sexy doing that!"

"Then why is it considered sexy for a girl to do it?" Severus asked. Libby and Jill just stared at him.

"He's only nine years old, he don't know 'bout that stuff," Azalea stated dismissively. "To him, an ice cream cone's sexy!"

"Well…" Libby mused. "It _could_ be sexy! Good training for later on!"

She and Jill burst out with screams of laughter, hitting each other on the shoulder with the hands that weren't holding lit cigarettes. Azalea laughed at this joke, too, and Yesmina smiled, but looked embarrassed and turned pink.

"The boys are coming!" Dawn announced, having kept lookout through the hay doors.

Jill and Libby quickly stubbed out their cigarettes in the ashtray, which Azalea instructed DeWard to go wash downstairs in the sink. They then quickly gathered up the magazines and put them back in the trunk. But Libby noticed a label on one of the covers and held it up to the fading light from the hay doors.

"_Damn!_" she exclaimed.

"What is it?" Jill asked.

"This is my _father's_ name!" Libby announced, holding the magazine out for Jill to see.

"It's being sent to a PO box," Jill observed. She and Libby stared at each other, and then started to laugh.

"I did _not_ see my mother in any of those!" Libby laughed.

"I don't think your father's seen your mother that way since before Jay was born, that's why he's getting _these_!" Jill replied. Both girls laughed hysterically.

"Of course," Jill continued, "it could be Jay getting them, and using your father's name…"

"Either way," Libby answered, taking the magazine and purloined cigarettes and stuffing them into her bag. "I'm keeping it as insurance…"

She winked at Jill as Azalea locked the trunk and Dawn put the key back in its hiding place. DeWard returned with the clean ashtray as Yesmina replaced the oilcloth on top of the trunk, and they all were the picture of innocence as five rather rambunctious boys entered the barn below.

"As you can see," Steve called down, as he climbed the steps, "the domain's been invaded by females!"

Jackson barked his dissent.

"That's okay, that's okay," Jay replied, following Steve. "Except one of them's my sister, I see!"

They were quickly followed by Angel, Rusty, and David, who all seemed in extraordinarily good moods. To Severus, they were actually acting rather silly, and he wondered if Angel had brought along any of the remaining pot to the lake.

Steve turned on the overhead lamp by twisting the light bulb, and he then put on a record.

"Come on!" he announced, running to the hay doors and jumping out. He gave an odd sort of yodeling scream, which then was muffled.

Severus was mortified, and the looks on Angel's, Azalea's, Yesmina's, and DeWard's faces showed that they felt the same. Even Free looked somewhat removed from her usual comfort zone.

Only the other children were laughing hysterically, and indeed Jay, Rusty, and David had soon thumped their chests and made the same odd scream that Steve had made, and then also taken flying leaps out of the hay doors.

"What the fuck?" Angel demanded, going over to the doors. "Oh. _Oh!_"

And with that, he took a few steps back and making that strange yodeling sound, ran and jumped out of the doors.

"I haven't done that in ages!" Libby laughed, as she and Jill, took their turns jumping out the doors.

Free got up and walked over to the doors.

"Oh," she stated. "That's cool!"

And with that, she took a few steps back, and she too then jumped out.

"What the freakin' _fuck_!?" Azalea demanded, as she, Yesmina, and Severus at the same time got up and went over to the doors.

"I'm not allowed to," Dawn announced. "Mom and Dad said I'm too small, that I have to grow some before they'll let me do that…"

Down below there was pile up of laughing boys and girls buried in a small hill of hay that lay below the hay doors. At the end of the long metal arm that swung over the doors, the same arm to which Steve had attached the television antenna, was a length of rope with a knot at the end, which like the rope over the lake, was used to swing from and to then drop into the hay below.

Angel and Severus' eyes met.

"Can you swim now, _amigo_?" Severus asked him. Angel laughed.

"Yes, in _this_ I can swim!"

Severus stepped back, and then ran. If he could do it over water, he definitely could do it over a pile of hay.

He loved the sensation of flying. Like broom flying, without the broom. He could stay up here forever.

Perhaps he did. Or longer than usual.

Because when he finally surfaced from the hay surrounding him, everyone was staring at him.

"What?"

"Man, that was _righteous_!" Jay exclaimed. Severus turned to Angel, eyebrows raised.

"Dude! It looked like you was _floating_ in the air!" Angel stated, awestruck.

"How did you do that?" Libby demanded. Severus just shrugged.

"I didn't know that I had," he stated honestly.

"It looked like that," Free stated, pointing up.

To Yesmina. Seemingly floating in the air, before softly landing in the hay.

"She does a better landing than you, dude," David stated.

Just like Lily. Lily could fly without a broom and land gracefully. Now Severus had seen Yesmina do the same.

Well, apparently _he_ had just flown without a broom, too! He did not know how he had done it, nor if he could do it again.

"That's like, so cool, man," Free complemented them as Yesmina rolled over to lie next to Severus. She smiled up at him, and he smiled back.

"_Yesmina Torres!_" Azalea screamed from above. _"You stop that right now! You don't go being stupid like them, you hurt yourself bad!"_

Yesmina sighed, still smiling at Severus.

"Big sister's calling," she stated.

"That…that was really _wonderful_ what you did!" Severus whispered to her. "Not many wit…people can do that!"

"It's the bird people," Yesmina replied.

"What?"

"You remember…last week…when we first got to Woodstock," Yesmina continued. "I told you all about when my mother gave me LSD, and I saw the bird people, and they said I could fly…"

"But you said they found you on the ledge outside your window…"

"Yes. I never got the opportunity to fly. They found me before I could try…"

"_Yesmina Torres, you get off of that nasty hay and get inside NOW!"_ Azalea was screaming. _"You don't go getting' crazy and hurtin' yourself!"_

Yesmina sighed.

"Someone's always telling me what I should do," she stated. "Flying, that's the only time I'm free."

Severus just looked at her, and then took her hand and squeezed it. She looked over at him, smiled, and squeezed his hand back.

"_You_ understand, Severus Snape…"

Yes, yes he did. Indeed he did.

"I'm sorry I punched you before," Yesmina apologized. "It was just that I was so scared…"

"Come on, Mina," Angel called up to them. He had slid down the hay and was now standing beneath them. "Before Miss Princess bursts a blood vessel, she'll be bleedin' more'n you _ever_ did!"

He held up both arms to help her down, which she did without any mishap with his and Severus' help.

"_Yesmina! Tor! Rez!"_

Severus had never seen Yesmina look the way she looked right now. Her hands were on her hips, much like Azalea did when she got mad, and indeed Severus could almost see steam coming out of Yesmina's ears.

"_Goddammit, Azalea, shut the FUCK up!"_ Yesmina yelled to the second floor. "For _once_ in my _mother-fuckin'_ life I am having _FUN!"_

"_Antipatica!_" she muttered, kicking a rock.

Angel laughed hysterically.

Severus was not sure if this last word was a curse. He was halfway convinced at this point that Yesmina was a witch, and Azalea _had_ suddenly gone silent.

Yesmina looked very pleased with herself.

"_Antipatica_, indeed!" Angel nodded in agreement. "That's a good one, Mina. But now she's gonna start kickin' you like she does us!" He winked at her.

"I'll kick her back," Yesmina replied, and then sighed. "I'm just tired of people always telling me what's good for me…"

Additional yodels issued from above, as Steve and Jay again jumped from above. Yesmina sighed and then turned to go back inside.

Severus heard a similar yodel issuing from a song that had started playing on the record player.

_He's free as the breeze  
__He's always at ease  
__He lives in the jungle and hangs by his knees  
__As he swings through the trees  
__With a trapeze in his BVDs_

Severus looked up to the rope hanging from the hook above.

"I want to do it again," he announced.

"Me too," Angel agreed. "Let's go!"

_Yeah, he's gonna go far  
__And carry moonbeams home in a jar_

And Severus indeed did it again. Including remaining suspended in the air for much longer than anyone who was not magickal would have been able.

"Man, you should join the circus or somethin'!" David opined, by way of a complement.

_And even the chimpanzees agree  
__That someday soon he'll be a celebrity  
__Get it, get it, get it!_

_Guitarzan, he's a guitar man  
__He's all you can stand  
__Give him a hand, Guitarzan!_

Soon even Dawn was displaying how _not_ to listen to the restrictions one's parents imposed, and showing that even if she missed grabbing the rope, that falling into a pile of hay was still fun. DeWard, however, could not be convinced to join in.

"There could be sharp stuff like pitchforks or somethin' in there!" Azalea tried cajoling Yesmina, who refused to listen and took two more turns jumping and flying before calling it a night, Severus suspected more to keep the peace with Azalea than because she was tired.

After about an hour, Steve's friends decided that it was time to go home, and they left after discussing plans to meet up at the county fair that was being held that weekend.

As they got ready to go to sleep, Severus chose a location on the floor that afforded him a view out of the doors towards the woods. He spread a quilt that Steve gave him onto the floor, and took one of the pillows so that he could sleep in a somewhat propped-up position. He wanted to see the woods, in case anything interesting appeared.

Jackson seemed to feel the same way, as he lay down by Severus. He gave Severus what seemed to be a knowing look, and then stared out the open hay doors towards the woods.

Yesmina chose to sleep on the other side of Severus. As she settled into her own quilt and blankets, she smiled up at Severus.

"That was fun!" she whispered. "Not only the flying, but defying Azalea!"

Severus grinned, but did not say anything at first.

"Yesmina," he finally whispered. "What was that word you said?"

"What word?"

"When you were swearing at Azalea…you said something at the end. _Anti_-something. It was like a curse. It shut her up."

"Oh. I think I said _antipatica_," she replied. "It's a Spanish word. My mom would call me that, when she got mad at me. It means something like 'obnoxious' in English…"

She rolled over to face him.

"It's not a curse," she stated. "I'd never do that to Azalea, I love her too much to do one of those _bruja_ things on her!"

Severus turned and looked at her curiously.

"_Bruja?_" he asked. "Is that anything like _brujo_?"

"Same thing," Yesmina answered. "One's female, the other's male. Both are witches. In our culture, Angel's and mine, some people believe in them. They go to a witch and have curses put on people they don't like. Whether you believe it or not, some people have gotten sick and some even die…"

"I believe it," Severus stated simply, looking directly at Yesmina. She stared back at him.

"Yes," she nodded. "You do. "

And with that, she turned over and went to sleep.

Steve had put a new record on to play as they all drifted off to sleep.

_This magic moment  
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh  
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh  
This magic moment  
Oh-oh-oh-oh_

_Sweeter than wine  
(sweeter than wine)  
Softer than a summer night  
(softer than a summer night)  
Everything I wanna have  
(everything, everything)  
Whenever I hold you tight_

Severus felt that this place indeed held many magickal moments.

_Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh  
(magic)  
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh  
(magic)  
__Oh-oh-oh-oh  
(moment)_

Oh-oh-oh-oh  
(magic)  
Oh-oh-oh-oh  
(magic)  
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh  
(magic)  
Oh-oh-oh-oh  
(moment)

_Magic, oh-oh-oh  
Magic, oh-oh-oh_

_..._

* * *

__

He's free as the breeze

_He's always at ease  
__He lives in the jungle and hangs by his knees  
__As he swings through the trees  
__With a trapeze in his BVDs_

_He's got a union card and he's practicing hard  
__To play, the guitar, gonna be a big star  
__Yeah, he's gonna go far  
__And carry moonbeams home in a jar_

_He ordered Chet's guitar course COD.  
__Like A and E, and he's working on B  
__Big W&W and R&B  
__And even the chimpanzees agree  
__That someday soon he'll be a celebrity  
__Get it, get it, get it!_

_CHORUS:  
__Guitarzan, he's a guitar man  
__He's all you can stand  
__Give him a hand, Guitarzan!_

_He's got a girl named Jane  
__With no last name  
__Kinda homely and plain  
__But he loves her just the same  
__Cause she kindles the flame  
__And it drives him insane_

_When he hears her sing  
__She really does her thing  
__It's her claim to fame  
__(Come on sing one Jane!)_

_Baaaa-by!  
__Baaaa-by!  
__Oh baaaa-by! Baaaa-by!  
__Oh baaaa-by!  
__(How about that folks?)_

_They've got a pet monkey who likes  
__To get drunk and sing boogie woogie  
__And it sounds real funky  
__Come on your turn boy  
__(Sing one, monkey!)_

_Ooh-uh-ooh-uh-ooh-uh  
__(Let's hear it for the monkey!)_

_On Saturday night they need some excitement  
__Jane gets right and the monkey gets tight  
__And their voices unite  
__In the pale moonlight  
__And it sounds all right  
__Yeah, it's dynamite, it's out of sight  
__(Let's hear it right now!)_

_Baaaa-by!  
__(Ooh-uh-ooh-uh-ooh-uh)  
__Baaaa-by!  
__(Ooh-uh-ooh-uh-ooh-uh)  
__Oh baaaa-by!_

_Yeah, shut up baby, I'm trying to sing!  
__Get it, get it, get it_

_(CHORUS)_

**GUITARZAN  
**Ray Stevens  
1969

_

* * *

_

This magic moment  
_So different and so new  
__Was like any other  
__Until I kissed you_

_And then it happened  
__It took me by surprise  
__I knew that you felt it too  
__By the look in your eyes_

_Sweeter than wine  
__(sweeter than wine)  
__Softer than a summer night  
__(softer than a summer night)  
__Everything I wanna have  
__(everything, everything)  
__Whenever I hold you tight_

_This magic moment  
__(this magic moment)  
__While your lips are close to mine  
__Will last forever  
__Forever till the end of time  
__(this magic moment)_

_Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh  
__Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh  
__(this magic moment)  
__Oh-oh-oh-oh_

_Sweeter than wine  
__(sweeter than wine)  
__Softer than a summer night  
__(softer than a summer night)  
__Everything I wanna have  
__(everything, everything)  
__Whenever I hold you tight_

_This magic moment  
__(this magic moment)  
__While your lips are close to mine  
__Will last forever  
__(this magic moment)  
__Forever till the end of time  
__(magic)_

_Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh  
__(magic)  
__Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh  
__(magic)  
__Oh-oh-oh-oh  
__(moment)_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh  
__(magic)  
__Oh-oh-oh-oh  
__(magic)_

_Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh  
__(magic)  
__Oh-oh-oh-oh  
__(moment)_

_Magic, oh-oh-oh  
__Magic, oh-oh-oh  
__Magic, oh-oh-oh  
(moment)_

_  
_

**THIS MAGIC MOMENT  
**Jay and The Americans  
1969

* * *


	18. Ch 16 Are You Sitting Comfortably 082269

_**CHAPTER 16  
**__**Friday, August 22, 1969**_

* * *

_**OMG!!**_

_Now I know why, when you suffer from a hypothyroid condition, you aren't just supposed to run out of your thyroid supplement for a couple of weeks before getting around to refilling your prescription!_

_Because, amongst a slew of various symptoms that arise, your brain gets fuzzy._

_The morning after I'd uploaded the previous chapter to FanFiction, the most obvious error jumped out at me; in the chapter header, I state that the date is Wednesday, August 20, 1969._

_**WRONG!!**_

_Strangely enough, I got it correct in writing the actual chapter; but of course, the Freak Caravan was on the road on Wednesday, arriving at the Temple Farm late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning._

_Therefore, the action that takes place in Chapter 15 occurs on __**THURSDAY, **__August 21. Like I said, for some reason I got it correct in actually writing the chapter, why I put in the chapter heading that it was Wednesday I can only blame on the significant number of dust bunnies in my brain at the time._

_There is also another error in the chapter, a fairly significant error, albeit not a plot-hole. I actually have an outline of the plot I want to develop while they are at the farm, and for some reason I just forgot one of my outline points. _

_It's fixable, but I will be doing a little literary dance in this chapter to make up for the error in Chapter 15. Perhaps I should offer some sort of prize to the first reader who spots what the error is? Perhaps a chance to be my beta!! (LOL)_

_Also, even though I had originally planned the Temple Farm sojourn to be covered in only three chapters, Chapter 15 ended up being much longer than I'd originally planned. Therefore, to keep the chapters a more manageable size, this story arc will now take place over five chapters, instead of only three._

* * *

He was used to getting up early; that was one way to avoid the drama and melodrama that usually occurred if he was not lucky enough to avoid awakening and getting out of the house before his father awoke.

Moreover, the night before he had actually gotten to bed at one of the earliest times he could remember since arriving in America.

Annie and Benjie had said something once that where he came from was actually five hours ahead of the time in New York (only four hours during something called Daylight Saving Time). It had to do with the curvature of the earth and the fact that it turned from east to west, the sun therefore rose over England before it rose over America. Therefore, when it was dawn here, it was actually late morning back home.

Whatever the cause was, he had never had a problem getting up in the morning after having had a full's night sleep.

He was therefore already awake to see the sky starting to get light, and when both Steve and Dawn stirred and sat up when their five roosters crowed.

Steve rubbed his eyes, and to Severus he looked like he had much rather go back to sleep. But Dawn got right up, folded her bedding and placed it in a corner, and then punched her brother in his shoulder when it seemed as if Steve was about to lay back down. She then noticed that Severus was awake.

"Oh! Did we wake you?"

Before Severus could answer, DeWard sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Your chickens did!" he complained.

"Oh!" Dawn exclaimed in a whisper. "You too? I was talking to Sev…"

DeWard looked at Severus, obviously surprised to see him awake.

"Actually, I've been awake for awhile," Severus whispered.

Dawn went over and kicked Steve, who'd succumbed to his desire and was now rolled up in his blankets with a pillow over his head.

"Get up, you lazybones!" Dawn whispered vehemently.

"Go away!' Steve mumbled.

"We have _chores_, dummy!"

She turned back to Severus and DeWard.

"Would you like to come along?" she inquired in a whisper, although the others were sleeping so soundly it didn't seem likely they'd awake soon.

"You can have a light breakfast and then help us with our chores, and then have a full breakfast afterwards," Dawn explained.

Perhaps it was the prospect of having two breakfasts that caused the two boys to neglect to ask just what the nature of the chores were. Severus and DeWard quickly got up and changed, Severus deciding to put on his tie-dyed smock. They followed Dawn down the steps, followed by Steve, who seemed to be in a trance.

Severus thought it curious that Jackson was nowhere to be seen, but that question was soon answered as they left the hay barn and had to share the path towards the house with the herd of cows, Jackson barking and nipping at their hooves.

The cows turned to the right and headed into the dairy barn for milking, as the children made their way to the main house.

At this hour, only those who lived at the farm were up. The women were busy making breakfast, and the men were busy eating it.

Severus was amazed at the difference between breakfast here, and the breakfasts he was used to at home. Here, breakfast was the epitome of abundance in all of its forms, both with the amount and variety of the food offered, and the love and affection that was also offered.

"Well, good morning!" Tom Temple bellowed when he saw the children. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Dawn said we had chores," Steve yawned, scratching his head and sitting down next to his father.

"You could have slept in!" his father offered. "You both have worked hard this summer, you deserve a little time off before school starts…"

Steve just glared at Dawn, who sat at the end of the bench as if offended. Severus noticed that their mother did not look too pleased, either.

"Tom!" she admonished, pouring him another cup of coffee. "Let them help! You work too hard!"

"I didn't work for six days, woman!" Tom laughed, adding a spoonful of sugar to his coffee and taking a gulp. "And why are _you_ two up at this hour?"

Tom turned to Severus and DeWard, who were still standing in the doorway.

"The crowing woke me up!" DeWard complained, which was met with laughter from the adults.

"That's what roosters do when the sun comes up!" Patrick stated.

"I was already awake," Severus admitted.

"Come sit here!" Tom indicated, getting up from the bench and finishing his coffee. "I gotta get to the milking!"

Severus and DeWard took the proffered seat as Tom, Patrick and Leon, Andy and Amy's father, left for the dairy barn.

"Would you like cereal, or a slice of zucchini bread?" Janet asked the children, as she poured each a tall glass of milk.

"Cereal!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Can I have some coffee?" Steve asked, yawning. His mother just gave him an exasperated look.

"You're too young," she stated. "You're still growing. You should be drinking milk."

"I'm twelve!" Steve mumbled, rubbing his eyes, yawning yet again. "I'd like coffee. Please."

His mother's mouth twisted to one side. Without saying a word, she took another glass and poured it about one-third full with coffee, and then poured milk from Steve's glass into it, placing it in front of her son.

"What do you want to eat?" she asked him.

"I'll have a slice of the bread," he answered, adding two teaspoons of sugar to his glass of coffee-flavored milk. "Toasted."

Janet's mouth again twisted into a half-smile, and then she turned to Severus and DeWard.

"I'd ask you what you want, but I suspect the answer would be 'Both'!" she laughed. Severus and DeWard just looked at her hopefully and nodded.

Janet placed bowls in front of Severus, DeWard, and Dawn and brought the crockery jar full of granola cereal over to the table to fill their bowls, as Linda sliced a type of bread that Severus had never seen before. From what he could see, it looked normal enough on the outside, but had a slightly greenish tinge inside, with what looked like black specks. Linda placed the slices of bread into a large toaster.

Steve sipped his glass of coffee as the other children sprinkled sugar on their cereal and then poured milk on it before eating.

As he ate his bowl of cereal, Severus noticed that the women were in the process of making other dishes of food, apparently for the second breakfast that would occur after the morning chores were done. But he also noticed that they seemed to be discussing the recipes, as if they had either never tried them before, or were seeking to refine them.

Just as he finished his cereal, Linda placed a thick slice of toasted zucchini bread in front of him. She also placed a butter dish on the table, and a bowl of cream cheese.

Severus was not sure what to do with this strange-looking thing. DeWard wasn't any help, as he too seemed perplexed by the zucchini bread and looked at it suspiciously.

However, Steve was vigorously slathering butter on his own slice, and then eagerly devoured it.

Severus decided to pinch off a small corner to see what it tasted like.

He was pleasantly surprised; he was not expecting it to be sweet, nor to have the hint of cinnamon and of something else that he could not place.

"It's zucchini bread," Dawn stated, seemingly the only person in the room who'd noticed Severus and DeWard's hesitancy. "Haven't you ever had it before?"

Severus shook his head.

"What's zucchini?" he asked.

"It's yucky!" DeWard exclaimed, before anyone else could answer. He was still staring suspiciously at his own slice.

"No it's not!" Dawn retorted. "_You_ just haven't had it cooked right, is all!"

"What _is_ it?" Severus demanded, his curiosity tweaked.

"It's a vegetable," Steve explained, his mouth full.

"You've never had zucchini before, Sev?" Janet asked, drying some plates. Severus shook his head.

"I don't think so," he answered. "At least, I have never eaten anything that was called that…"

Linda reached over and picked up something that was long and green and held it up. To Severus, it looked rather like a giant pickle.

"_This_ is a zucchini, Sev," she told him. Severus again shook his head.

"No, I definitely have never eaten anything like that!" he stated. "What does it taste like?"

"It actually has a fairly mild taste," Janet answered. "You can slice it and sauté it, you can use it like eggplant…"

She noted Severus' blank expression.

"You've never had eggplant, either?" she asked. Severus shook his head. Janet and Linda exchanged glances.

"Sounds like eggplant parmagian's on the menu sometime soon!" Linda laughed, going back to working with some sort of dough in a crockery bowl.

"Are you going to eat that?" Steve demanded, eyeing Severus' slice of toasted zucchini bread.

"Just ask for another slice, young man!" his mother laughed, grabbing the loaf and cutting off another slice and placing it in the toaster. "Don't go stealing Sev's slice!"

"You can put butter on it," Dawn was instructing DeWard. "But it's probably cold by now, so you may want to put the cream cheese on it instead…"

DeWard still looked unconvinced; Dawn sighed in exasperation, grabbed the cream cheese, and slathered some on DeWard's slice before shoving it into his hand.

Severus decided to follow suit; he spread cream cheese on his slice, and then took a small bite.

Delicious. He did not know why DeWard was so worried.

"This is very good!" he exclaimed.

"Told'ya so!" Steve replied, as his mother placed his second slice of toast on his plate. "But I like it better warm, with melted butter…brings out the flavor better…"

Since Dawn wouldn't stop glaring at DeWard, he decided that he had no choice but to eat his own slice. However, by his second mouthful it occurred to him that it actually tasted good.

Dawn sat back folding her arms across her chest, a smug expression on her face.

"Told'ya so!" she exclaimed triumphantly.

The boys finished eating and gulped down their milk as Dawn sprung up from her seat.

"Come on, we're late!" she demanded.

It was only now that he had had something to eat, that the question of just what chores they were going to do occurred to Severus.

"Let's help with the milking, first," Steve announced. "I think Sev and DeWard'll get a kick out of seeing that!"

"I hope that statement is not meant literally!" Severus exclaimed. He remembered quite clearly his meeting with Bessie the day before.

Steve laughed, but Dawn seemed to take it as a personal insult.

"Our cows are nice cows!" she exclaimed. "They don't kick!"

"Of _course_ they kick, Dawn!" Steve contradicted. "Any cow'll kick you, if you provoke it. Just don't provoke it!"

Severus followed him, wondering how one went about _not_ provoking a cow.

When they reached the dairy barn, Severus and DeWard just stood in the doorway, staring.

Severus did not know what he had expected. Perhaps something like he had seen in books at school. Cows in those books were always in simple, bucolic country barns, with someone sitting on a low stool, milking them by hand.

While the outside of the Temple's dairy barn looked traditional enough, inside there seemed to be more metal and plastic than wood.

Each cow was in a metal stall, the floor of which was a metal grid. And instead of someone sitting on a stool and milking by hand, Tom and the others were attaching the cows to some sort of machine, which Dawn explained was a milking machine.

Steve went and started helping the men attach the metal and plastic tubing to each cow's teats. Then the machine would be turned on, and milk could be seen coursing through the transparent tubing to a large tank at one end of the barn. It was from this tank that later in the morning a truck would come and take the milk to a processing plant to be pasteurized, a procedure Dawn explained to Severus that killed things that might be in the milk that might make them sick.

The cows actually seemed quite happy with the milking, and Severus was actually intrigued with the idea of machines doing the extraction rather than humans.

And then Tom thought it would be 'instructive' for Severus and DeWard to learn how it was done in the old days. Steve laughingly brought up a low stool and placed it by Bessie's udder. Bessie mooed and rolled her eyes toward the back to see why she was not being milked in her usual manner.

DeWard's eyes seemed as large as Bessie's, and he refused to come any closer than five feet to the cow. Tom decided that DeWard was perhaps too young, even though Dawn was quick to point out that her father had taught _her_ how to milk a cow before she was five years old.

But for some reason, no one would brook a refusal from Severus. Nine and a half was more than old enough for a young man to learn how to milk a cow, Tom insisted.

Severus could not conceive of any reason why he would ever have to know how to milk a cow. However, as he and Bessie glared at each other, a determination grew within Severus that no cow was going to get the better of him.

It didn't help that Dawn sat down on the stool, took the pail her father provided, and deftly started demonstrating how to properly milk a cow.

Severus was impressed that she seemed to be quite expert at the procedure. And glad that Bessie seemed happy with it being done. Perhaps it was not so bad to do after all.

Still, he was careful to approach the cow in such a way so that she could get a clear view of him approaching; he did not want to startle her like he had done yesterday.

Bessie did not take her eye off of him, but seemed at least resigned to him approaching her. Dawn got up from the stool and had Severus sit down.

He stared at Bessie's giant udder. He had seen Dawn pulling on the teats, so he tentatively touched one.

It was warm. It felt like skin. Sort of.

He put his hand around one, and pulled.

Other than Bessie mooing her annoyance, and everyone except DeWard laughing, nothing else happened.

Severus was annoyed. They wanted _him_ to do this, and now they were laughing at him.

He squeezed tightly, and pulled hard.

If a cow could yell, then that was what Bessie did, just before giving a swift kick with her hind leg that met with Severus' shin and caused the stool to fly in one direction and the pail in another. Even DeWard laughed this time.

However, Severus was not laughing. His shin hurt, and all he could think was to get away from Bessie's legs.

He almost felt like crying, but he was _not_ going to let them see him cry!

Steve's arm came around him, and helped him to his feet.

"You gotta be more _gentle_, Sev!" Steve explained. Severus saw Dawn retrieving the stool and pail, and it was obvious that they expected him to continue the lesson.

Merlin's beard! Tell the damn cow to be more gentle!

But then a thought occurred to Severus. In a few years he would be going to Hogwarts, where he would have to learn to deal with creatures more troublesome than a milk cow. He would have to deal with not only kicks but also potentially poisonous bites, and having his eyebrows singed by flame-breathing creatures.

This was just preliminary training; he would be that more adept at handling magickal creatures for having learned how to deal with this nonmagickal one.

"I was kicked dozens of times!" Dawn indicated, sitting on the stool and grabbing one of Bessie's teats, ready to show Severus the proper way to do it.

"Remember, be gentle," Steve whispered to Severus. "It's like…"

He then leaned over and whispered something into Severus' ear so that the others could not hear.

Severus could not believe what Steve had just said. He whipped his head around to stare at the older boy.

"_What!?_" Severus demanded, turning a bright shade of pink. Steve just laughed and slapped him on the back.

"Nothin'!" Steve replied, pushing him towards Dawn. "Watch her, she's good."

Severus tried to concentrate on what Dawn showed him, but it was what Steve had _said _to him that was foremost in his mind when he again grabbed one of Bessie's teats.

This time he was successful. A warm stream of milk sprayed into the pail, and Bessie mooed her approval.

Nevertheless, he was grateful when, after about five successful sprays into the pail, Tom decided that it was now time to hook Bessie up to one of the milking machines to complete the process.

Bessie was hooked up to the machine, and they left her with Dawn promising the cow to see her later that morning to "get ready".

"Get ready for what?" DeWard asked.

"The fair tomorrow," Dawn answered, as they left the barn and walked towards the front. "We have Bessie entered, so we have to give her a bath…"

DeWard and Severus exchanged silent glances. Just how _did_ one go about giving a cow a bath?

However, before they could ask that question, they realized that they were heading towards the dreaded chicken roost.

"What is the next chore?" Severus asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"We have to gather up eggs," Steve answered.

Gather eggs. Right. It could not be that hard, could it? It would be good training for Hogwarts. He was sure he would have to gather any number of different types of eggs there. Perhaps even a dragon's egg. So what were a few chicken eggs?

Except that there were more than a few eggs. And much more than a few chickens sitting on top of them. None of whom seemed particularly happy, at least to Severus, even though Dawn and Steve talked to them as if they were old friends.

Dawn handed DeWard and Severus each a basket, and told them to look for eggs in any nest that didn't have a chicken in it, that she and Steve would take the nests with chickens still roosting in them. Severus could have kissed her in gratitude.

The thing was, the empty nests usually had occupied nests on either side, and when a little boy went to take an egg from an unoccupied nest, the other chickens would often make a fuss, standing up and flapping their wings, clucking angrily as they tried to peck at the boys' hands and scratch them with their claws.

It was now DeWard's turn to slip and fall, spilling the contents of his basket. Luckily, he had only gathered five eggs at that point.

"They don't know you," Dawn explained, helping DeWard to his feet as Steve took a cloth and wiped up the raw egg from the floor. Severus decided that with their foul personalities that he would not be getting to know these particular fowl within his lifetime. Looking at DeWard, it was obvious that the younger boy felt the same way.

They finally completed the task of gathering the eggs; Severus silently uttered an oath of thanks, as it was now well past sunrise, the day was turning quite muggy, and the inside of the chicken barn was rather smelly.

That, Steve soon announced, would be remedied by the next chore of actually cleaning the barn. He took a wide push broom as he handed Severus a shovel; Dawn took a metal pail and handed another one to DeWard, stating that they needed to go get water.

Severus now silently uttered to himself every curse he had ever heard in his life, both Muggle and Wizard. The Temples had been more than kind to them, and he realized that he owed them something. But why were Angel and the others still sleeping back in the loft? Why hadn't he thought to wake them?

Why had he forgotten his satchel with his wand in it? He _knew _cleaning spells. They were some of the few spells his mother had no objection to him doing on his own, as long as he did them when no Muggles, especially his father, were looking. At this point, he did not care whether Steve or Dawn or DeWard saw him or not, he would just point his wand and have the whole thing done in a few seconds.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Stupid chickens.

Stupid Muggles.

Stupid him, for forgetting that he was a wizard. He should _never_ be without his wand!

Steve swept the floor, as Severus shoveled the sweepings into a series of large pails. Steve didn't say anything, perhaps sensing Severus' foul mood.

Dawn and DeWard returned with their pails of water, Dawn explaining to DeWard the properties of the disinfectant soap they used to wash the floor. Severus did not care; he was hot, sweaty, dirty, and smelled of chicken shit, which he carried in a pail and placed just outside the door with the others to be picked up later and brought out to one of the fields.

Severus leaned against the wall just outside the door, squinting in the sunlight. He took his now quite rank smock off and used it to wipe the sweat from his face. He was grateful to Azalea, if she had not braided his hair into cornrows, he knew it would now be hanging down in greasy hanks.

He wondered why no adults from the Hog Farm were helping; he made a note to raise the question over breakfast.

This, thankfully, was their next stop Steve announced, as he, Dawn and DeWard came out carrying the baskets of eggs, after completing washing the floor of the barn.

"Only chicken I ever want to see again is fried!" DeWard whispered to Severus so that Dawn could not hear. Severus was too tired and cranky to offer more than a half-smile and a nod.

When they reached the front porch, Severus noticed that Jack from the Hog Farm was down at one end of the porch smoking a cigarette. For some reason, Severus had the impression that Jack had been watching them the whole time; but Jack did not say anything as the children entered the house, only stubbed his cigarette out on a post and threw it out into the driveway as he followed the children into the house.

Dawn handed her and DeWard's baskets to Severus and Steve, and then grabbed DeWard's hand and ran with him up the stairs, saying they could wash up in the bathroom upstairs. Severus followed Steve into the kitchen, with Jack following behind them.

The other children had finally gotten up, and were waiting for breakfast. Both of Free's parents were working in the kitchen, as were a few women from the Hog Farm, in addition to the women who lived on the farm. Severus had the impression that there was much more activity than he had seen the previous morning.

Severus, still carrying his smock, sat down next to Angel, as Steve took the eggs and put them on the counter by the second sink (which was referred to as 'the work sink') on the opposite wall from the regular kitchen sink, and proceeded to wash his hands, face and neck.

Angel sniffed the air.

"Dude, what the _hell_ y'been _doin'_?" he asked, turning to face Severus.

"He's been helping us clean the chicken roost," Steve stated, deciding to stick his whole head under the faucet.

"You _smell_ like it!" Azalea exclaimed, wrinkling her nose and edging down the bench to get farther away from Severus.

Severus just stared straight ahead without saying a word. He then slammed his dirty smock down on the table, and went outside and sat at the far end of the table on the patio, facing away from the house. He was not going to let them see him cry.

He could hear Steve and his mother saying something, and then Janet came outside.

"Aw, hon, they shouldn't have made you do that, especially with your good shirt on!" she comforted him, putting her arm around his shoulder and sitting down next to him.

Severus looked down at the ground. This was worse. He was sure he would not be able to stop from crying now.

"You can wash up out here," she offered, gesturing to Steve who had come outside with a couple of towels and some soap, and was standing by a tap that had a hose attached that was in the corner of the patio and that Severus hadn't previously noticed.

"And I'll take care of your shirt for you," Janet added. "I'll wash it for you and hang it on the line to dry…"

Severus did not care about the damned shirt; it belonged to a time and a life that he no longer had. A time and a life that included Lily, and her stupid sister Petunia making fun of his shirt…

As much as he willed it not to, the sob escaped and betrayed him.

"Aw, Hon," Janet comforted, taking Severus into her arms and hugging him to her breast. "We farm people get used to the smell, we forget how objectionable it is to others…"

"I'm sorry, Sev," Steve apologized, coming over and sitting next to his mother. "I thought you'd think it was fun…"

"I _**hate**_ chickens!" Severus growled, his face still in Janet's shoulder. "They're dirty and noisy and _they are not nice_!"

Steve looked shocked, but his mother just laughed, running her fingers through Severus' hair.

"Well, I guess we _don't_ give you a chicken as a pet when you leave!" she joked. Severus laughed in spite of himself.

"No!" he replied, pulling away and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "Please _don't_!"

Janet took her apron and helped Severus to dry his eyes.

"Feel better?" she asked. Severus could only nod.

"Then have a good wash. What would you like to have to eat?" she asked, standing up.

"I'm not really hungry at the moment," Severus answered. Janet just nodded, patted his shoulder, and then went back into the kitchen.

"Come on," Steve offered, taking Severus by the hand over to the tap. He turned on the water, and held the hose so that Severus could use it almost like a shower to wash. His jeans got wet, but since the day was now quite hot, Severus did not mind.

He dried himself with the towel that Steve had brought out, and when he turned around he was surprised to see that all the children, including Andy and April, had come outside and were sitting at the patio table, much to the delight of Jackson.

"This a better idea," Azalea stated, as Severus sat down opposite her. She winked at him. "Lotsa _fresh air_ out here!"

"Yes," Severus agreed dryly. "Yes there is. Much more than in the chicken barn."

"It's called a roost," Dawn corrected, only to get a glare from her brother and a kick from DeWard.

Yesmina handed a bottle of milk to Severus, who found that he was now not only very thirsty, but also hungry. He poured his glass full of milk and drained it in a few gulps. He refilled his glass, and gladly accepted an offer of breakfast of bacon and eggs and homemade cracked-wheat toast, and fresh-baked cinnamon buns, and apple cake and plum pie.

It turned out there was quite a bit to choose from this morning's menu because everyone was trying out their favorite recipes in anticipation of entering the best items to be judged at the county fair the next day. Therefore, the children were the grateful recipients of those items that were considered not quite up to snuff for competition.

And not only food items were being concocted; Janet mentioned that Rusty, Jill, and their parents Bob and Donna were coming over just after lunch with a truckload of goats' milk that would be turned into soap to be sold at the fair.

Severus asked if he could help; Janet looked at him with surprise.

"Sure!" she answered. "We could use all the help we can get!"

"Severus, this is your smock?"

It was Linda, holding up his smock, which still needed to be washed. Nierika and a few people from the Hog Farm were with her. Jack was standing off to the side, arms folded on his chest, just watching.

"Yes," Severus answered cautiously, wondering what this was all about. "Yes it is."

"It's a _wonderful_ smock!" she exclaimed, bringing it over to him, Nierika following her. "Where did you get it?"

Severus paused. He still had not gotten used to his smock garnering complements.

"My mother bought it," he finally answered. "I'm not sure where…"

"Do they have a lot of these for sale in England?" Linda pressed.

"No," Severus answered. "At least, I don't think so. I never saw anyone else wearing one…"

He paused again, before continuing.

"I don't think they are very popular. I was teased when I wore it," he admitted.

Linda and Nierika exchanged looks.

"An untapped market," Nierika smiled. Severus had no idea what she meant.

Linda squeezed in on the bench next to Severus.

"Sev…would you mind if we took this apart?"

Severus looked from Linda to the smock to Nierika. He had no idea what the women were on about.

"Take it apart…?" he queried. "Why?"

At this point, he really did not give a damn about the smock. He just could not fathom why the others were so interested in it.

"We'll put it back together for you," Nierika stated.

"Or make you a new one!" Linda answered.

"But…but…?" Severus sputtered.

"Annie tie-dyed that," Azalea offered. "It was white at first."

Linda and Nierika stared at each other.

"We should ask Annie if she'd tie-dye some!" Linda exclaimed.

"I'll go ask her now!" Nierika replied, turning and going back into the house.

"But…but…?" Severus was still sputtering.

"It's so…adaptable!" Linda exclaimed, holding up the dirty smock. "Make it longer. Put a drawstring at the waist! Make the sleeves full or tailored. Or no sleeves at all! Make it simple, or dress it up with lace and things!"

"But…but…" Severus sputtered. "_What_ are you talking about?"

Linda looked at him in surprise.

"Making smocks to sell tomorrow!" she exclaimed. "I thought I'd said that! We'd like to use _your_ smock as a pattern, but we'll need to take it apart. That way we can adapt it for different sizes. But we'll put it back together for you!"

"Oh!" Severus replied. He had never considered that his smock would ever be popular enough that others would want one. "That's okay. You can have it. I don't want it back."

Linda seemed slightly taken back by this comment, but she just patted Severus on his back and got up and went back into the house with the others. Severus noticed that Jack had been watching the whole exchange, but then turned and went into the house without saying a word.

After breakfast, Steve and Dawn announced that Bessie and a select number of pigs had to be made ready for the fair, and it was obvious that they expected the others to help. While April and Andy were eager to come, they were disappointed to find out that they were considered too young, and they instead were relegated to 'helping' in the kitchen.

DeWard and Severus exchanged glances; Severus could tell that DeWard and he shared the opinion that they had done their share of farm work for the day, and it was now time for the others to step up and do their bit.

Therefore, he and DeWard hung back when they all made there way back to the barns. Two very large, and dirty, pigs were in a separate pen from the other pigs, and Bessie was tied up to this pen.

Steve took a hose and filled a trough with water, as Dawn retrieved some shampoo. Apparently, cows and pigs got their own special shampoo.

Severus, DeWard, and Yesmina watched as a discussion grew very heated over who should do what. Yesmina was given a pass, as no one wanted her to get hurt.

Free very enthusiastically grabbed a large brush, soaped it up, and started washing a pig that Steve had just hosed down.

But Angel was not comfortable with the prospect of getting up close and personal with either the pigs or the cow, and even though Azalea had no problem with hugging and petting a cow, she very loudly made it clear that she was _not_ going to wash one nor get muddy trying to wash goddamned pigs.

It didn't help matters when Steve tried to explain that they could easily clean off any mud by hosing off, and demonstrated this fact by spraying Azalea with the hose. This resulted in a murderous Azalea chasing Steve for a few minutes until he slipped and fell into the mud himself, with Azalea then grabbing the hose and spraying him to see how _he_ liked it.

It only made her angrier to find out that Steve indeed _did_ enjoy it.

Dawn on the other hand was growing very annoyed, and was screaming at them that there was work to be done and that they'd never get done on time nor would they win any prizes if they didn't take this seriously.

The look she gave Severus, DeWard, and Yesmina indicated that she was just as angry with them as with the others.

"I'll help with Bessie afterwards," Yesmina offered. Severus looked at her quizzically.

"They decorate her after she's dry," Yesmina whispered.

Azalea screamed as Steve hit her with a wet, dirty sponge. Dawn was screaming at Angel, who just stood with his hands in his pockets and refused to move.

"I'll be back in a bit," Severus told Yesmina and DeWard, turning and heading back to the hay barn.

He went up to the loft and retrieved his satchel, vowing never, _ever_ to be without it anywhere on this farm again.

When he returned, only Yesmina was where he had left her, leaning on the fence outside of the pig enclosure.

He could not see Dawn or DeWard, but he could hear a very shrill Dawn haranguing someone inside the barn, and DeWard's voice replying something to the effect that the chickens were enough.

Angel was standing a good five feet away from a wet Bessie, holding a soapy sponge and tentatively leaning towards her, but the cow was just out of his reach and he refused to move any closer to her.

Azalea and Steve were still fighting, this time throwing handfuls of hay at each other.

Only Free seemed to be having fun, hosing down the pigs and washing them. Or trying to. The ground was getting quite muddy, and the pigs would often sit or lie in the mud right after she had washed them.

No one except Yesmina noticed Severus' return. He stood next to her, and she turned to him, looking at his satchel and then at his face with a questioning look.

"Don't say anything," he whispered. He reached into his satchel and took out his wand.

He had seen his mother do it any number of times. Especially in the winter, or when it rained a lot, and no matter how often one was told to wipe one's feet before coming into the house, one still managed to track slush and mud and dirt inside.

There was the one spell to clean the mess. There was the second spell to keep it clean, so that no matter how many times one's little boy slipped in and out of the house, his father wouldn't be aware of it.

Severus looked around; only Yesmina was watching and, well, she sort of basically knew about him already.

He pointed his wand at the animals and uttered the first spell, quickly followed by the second.

"Oh!" Free exclaimed. "Look how clean they are now!"

She stood up, half covered in mud herself. Severus considered using the spells on her, but thought that might push matters a bit.

Angel stood back and looked at Bessie and the pigs quizzically. It was obvious he didn't understand how the animals had suddenly gotten so clean, but it was just as obvious that he wasn't going to question his good fortune.

"Hey, you all!" he called out. "Stop your bitchin', it's done!"

Steve and Azalea stopped in mid-throw, Steve then laughingly shoving hay down the front of Azalea's shirt and she in return shoving some down the front of his pants.

Dawn and DeWard emerged from the barn, Dawn looking angry and suspicious. However, the look quickly turned to awe when she spied the animals.

"They're _beautiful_!" she exclaimed, hugging each pig and then Bessie, who mooed her agreement.

"Let's get the pigs inside so they don't get dirty again," Steve gasped, but he, Dawn and Free were the only ones who ushered the pigs into the barn.

"They won't get dirty," Severus whispered to Yesmina, putting his wand back into his satchel. Yesmina just smiled at him.

DeWard, Angel, and Azalea came over to them, Azalea shaking hay out of her hair and picking it out of her bra.

"Fuckin' _asshole_!" she mumbled, obviously referring to Steve, who emerged from the barn with Dawn and Free. Dawn led Bessie back into the barn.

"That was quick!" Steve laughed as he and Free came over. "We actually have enough time to go swimming…"

He picked a few pieces of straw from Azalea's hair.

"…and get cleaned up before lunch," he finished.

"Don't touch me!" Azalea exclaimed, pushing his hand away. "_Asshole!"_

"Yeah, man, I like really need to wash up!" Free laughed, obviously not perturbed by the mud on her.

"We're going swimming!" Steve called out to Dawn as she came out from the barn. "You all can make Bessie pretty after lunch…"

They returned to the loft, and Yesmina and Azalea put bathing suits on under their clothes, Azalea making sure to bring along soap, shampoo, and towels. Free packed a dashiki into her bag to put on after swimming.

Severus kept an eye out as they walked through the woods, but saw nothing unusual.

Except for a few of the men from the Hog Farm who'd decided to cool off, the lake was unusually quiet for late morning on a hot summer's day. Steve and Dawn explained that it was due to everyone in the area getting ready for the fair that weekend.

They spent the rest of the morning at the lake before returning to the main house for lunch. Due to the hectic schedule, they received what was deemed a "light lunch", which on the Temple Farm consisted of a buffet of various cold cuts, homemade rolls, macaroni salad, potato salad, salad greens, sliced tomatoes and sweet onions, an assortment of condiments (most of which were made on the farm), and a variety of desserts deemed not worthy to bring to the fair tomorrow.

In the wing of the building to the side of the patio, one room had been turned into a sewing workroom. After lunch, Severus went to see what was going on, and saw Linda, Nierika, and a number of other women and men cutting fabric, sewing, and embellishing some finished items with lace or embroidery. Severus saw that his smock had been used as the basic pattern, but that it had been then altered so that smocks for babies to adults were being made.

Severus looked at one smock being sewn in flannel for an infant, and suggested that it could be lengthened and legs sewn into it to make a one-piece outfit. After seeing an adult-sized smock lengthened to make it a dress for a lady, he suggested that instead of having the buttoned opening end at the waist, that it be opened completely; such a change made the garment wearable as a dress by itself, or as a coat if worn over other clothing.

Annie was in a side room, doing her tie-dye artistry. Severus helped her for awhile, and when her back was turned, he took his wand out and cast the spell he thought he'd done at Woodstock the morning he and Angel were brewing LSD. Whether it was indeed the same spell or not, Severus was pleased to see that the result with the dye was very similar to the effect that it had caused with the LSD. The dye swirled with more intense colors, and even Annie commented on how the colors suddenly had begun to sparkle.

Severus then moved onto the next room, where Rusty, Jill, and their mother Donna were making goats' milk soap with Janet and a couple of people from the Hog Farm. Severus was fascinated with the process, and with the collection of herbs and oils used to scent the soap. He watched carefully, memorizing the recipe, and helped to form bars of soap using the antique lead mold.

By late afternoon, he had moved back into the kitchen, fascinated by the process of making jams and jellies.

Dawn, Yesmina, Azalea and Free returned from making Bessie look pretty, and it was obvious that Bessie was not the only one pampered that afternoon, as all the girls had ribbons and beads worked into their hair, and as promised, Azalea had braided Free's hair into cornrows that contained more beads than Severus thought would have been possible.

With a slight shock, it occurred to Severus that Free and her parents would be leaving Monday morning. He would never see her again.

The girls were pressed into duty as models, as Severus' smock was made into not only additional smocks, but also dresses, blouses, coats and jackets.

Jack suggested that it would make good marketing sense if the girls wore some of the items at the fair as a way to advertise the clothing. Azalea and Yesmina chose two short-sleeved blouse variations, and Free chose a dress and a smock. Dawn, after much consideration, chose a short-sleeved blouse and a similarly styled tunic. Annie chose a smock and a dress for herself, and a gauze dress and one of the flannel leggings-variations for Judy.

Even Jill chose a blouse and her mother chose a dress, but her brother, Angel and DeWard demurred, and Severus at that point was rather off wearing smocks ever again. However, Steve enthusiastically chose two smocks for himself, one in white cotton and another out of lightweight blue denim with white fringe added to it.

It was now late afternoon, and the McBains left for their own farm, Jill and Rusty vowing to meet up with Steve and the others tomorrow morning at the fair.

Supper consisted of hamburgers and hotdogs cooked outside, with a number of different salads and desserts.

After supper, the children went back to the hay barn. The TV was immediately turned on, even though Severus was told that it was "before prime time" and that "nothing is on right now", a statement Severus thought was odd as it was clearly obvious that something was being broadcast at that very moment.

Steve produced a pack of cards and what looked to Severus to be plastic coins, and he, Angel, Azalea, Free and Yesmina sat down to play a game they told Severus was called "poker". Dawn produced another pack of cards, and was teaching DeWard how to play a game that she called "21".

Severus watched both games for a while; he had never been much for playing any sort of game, and he quickly surmised that both of these games involved betting, and he was not the betting sort, unless he was sure he would win.

Steve seemed surprised that he consistently lost to the other players, but everyone seemed surprised that Free was doing the best out of all of them.

Severus was rather bored with it all; without being noticed by the others, he put some balls of yarn and decorative cord into his satchel along with a bag of beads and a handful of pop-tops, and then he climbed down the steps. Jackson followed him, obviously as uninterested in the card games as Severus.

He was not consciously aware of heading to any one particular location, he just knew he wanted to go where there was no one around, and he could work without interruption.

He found himself walking into the woods; Dawn had indicated that there was a clearing not too far away from the path, so he went in the direction she had indicated.

He soon found a narrow path, obviously used by those whom Dawn had said often utilized the woods and clearing for various purposes.

Jackson happily trotted along after him, but did not indicate that there was anything of particular interest nearby. Nevertheless, Severus kept an eye out for anything…_unusual_.

After a few minutes, he indeed came into a clearing. He stopped at the edge of the woods, and looked around.

It was rather large; one had to wonder just _why_ such a large clearing existed within the woods.

However, there were flowers blooming, even now in late summer. Severus imagined it must be really beautiful in the spring and early summer, when even more flowers would be blooming.

Because it was the end of the day, the flowers were giving off a beautiful perfume, and the birds were singing their evensong. Severus could easily imagine magick being performed here.

A few yards into the clearing he found a fallen log, obviously utilized as a bench, as next to it was a circle of dirt with bits of charred wood in it, the remains of some campfire that had been lit some weeks previously.

Severus sat down on the log, took the yarn, cord, beads and pop-tops out, and stared at them for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do.

Free had been so nice to him, and she had made him the macramé bag he wore around his neck to hold the strange rock he had found. He felt that he should give her something in return. However, he was not sure what girls liked, that he in turn would be able to make.

He decided that he would try making her a macraméd headband; she wore headbands a lot and he would only have to make something an inch or two wide and a couple of inches long. Simple enough.

He took his wand out of his bag and stuck it into the dirt, and then attached both the yarn and the cord to it, as he thought the combination of the two looked pretty. He then started tying knots in the manner that Free had taught him, but he became frustrated that it consistently did not turn out the way he wanted it to.

He ripped out the knots he had made a third time, berating himself for obviously having forgotten something important, when he thought he heard voices.

He stopped and listened. However, other than the birds, everything was silent.

He went back to fussing with untying the knots, when he was sure he heard it again.

Something had definitely moved somewhere in the woods off to his left. Moreover, he was positive he had heard at least two voices.

Fairly high-pitched voices at that.

"It's just a bit more, Pris," one voice said.

"I's musta been hogoblinywinked to haz you talk me into _dis_!" the other voice responded. "Weez coulda wentta dat nice place in da Andy Rondax, they sez it hazza place all special set up for elll…"

"Aw, _shit_!"

"_Rrruufff!_" Jackson barked, sitting up.

Only Severus was silent.

At the edge of the forest to his left, stood two elves. He had never actually ever _seen_ an elf. However, his mother had described them.

These had to be elves. Even though they were wearing clothes instead of a tea towel or an old pillowcase, they clearly fit the description of elves in every other respect.

"Aw, Frosty's farts and Rudolph's radioactive _shit_!" the male elf swore, tearing the tiny baseball cap off of his head and throwing it to the ground.

"Youze damned dragon dung, youze _said_ youze put a _spell_ up to keep humans away!" his female companion complained, taking a backpack off and swinging it at the other elf in what was rather an elegant move.

The male elf deftly avoided the blow, obviously having had much practice in doing so.

"I _did_ do the spell, lovey!" he complained, dancing a few steps away from her to avoid another potential blow. "No human _should_ be able to come here until after we leave!"

"_Rrruufff!_" Jackson again barked, this time standing up.

"So's what's _dat_, I ask?" the female elf demanded in a shrill voice, pointing to Severus and Jackson. Jackson took this as an invitation to come over.

"Dog! _Dog!_" the female elf screamed, as Jackson proceeded to lick her face. "Gets nasty human's dog away!"

"Well, now!" the male elf announced triumphantly, taking a good look at Severus, and then appearing so quickly in front of him that Severus would have sworn that he'd just apparated. The elf grabbed Severus' wand out of the dirt and held it over his head.

"See, Prissy?" he asked. "Seems we don't have just _any_ human here! We have a Son of Merlin!"

But Prissy was cowering under the repeated blows of Jackson's tongue and continued to cry, "Dog! Nasty dog!"

The male elf turned to Severus.

"Call your dog off, willya kid?"

"It's not my dog," Severus answered. The elf looked at him as if he was prepared to cast a curse on Severus plaguing him with twenty varieties of boils.

"Jackson!" Severus called. Jackson stopped licking the female elf and turned towards Severus.

"Jackson!" Severus repeated. "Come here!"

Jackson took one last look at the female elf, and then turned and came back to Severus happily wagging his tail, clearly of the opinion that the two elves were some sort of toys that Severus had provided.

"Thanks," stated the male elf, going back to his companion, who showed her appreciation by shoving him to the ground, causing his backpack falling off.

"What the _fuck_, woman?" he cried out, holding up Severus' wand. "_Look_! He has a _wand_! He's no ordinary human; he's a _Son of Merlin_! _That_ is why my spell had no effect on him; I only cast it for ordinary humans!"

The female elf looked at Severus with a mixture of suspicion and fear, as her companion got to his feet, brushing the dirt off of himself.

"Who the fuck _knew_ any of them were _here_?" the male elf grumbled. The female elf glared at him.

"'Oh, Prissy! Let's go to Indiana on ours vacation! They's sez dat fair has _lottsa_ magickal folk workin' it, human, elf and goblin, my's own _cousin_ works dere Prissy, and dere's dis farms what fulluva magick, Prissy!'" she taunted, shoving him again, although this time he did not fall.

"Youze dumb fuck!" Prissy swore. "Why _wouldn't_ there be wunna his kind here?"

"There never was before," he answered, scratching his head with the tip of Severus' wand.

"Could I have my wand back?" Severus asked. The two elves looked at him, obviously having forgotten that he was there, even though they had just been arguing about him.

"You ain't gonna use it on us, are you?" the male elf asked.

"Why should I?" Severus responded.

The male elf came forward and handed the wand back to Severus, even though Prissy vehemently whispered, _"Don't!"_

The male elf stepped back, and a few awkward moments passed as all three stared at each other.

"So!" the male elf exclaimed, shoving his hands into his pockets and tracing the toe of one boot in the dirt. "You come here often?"

"No," Severus answered. "I don't live here."

The male elf nodded his head. Again, nothing else was said for some time.

"Uhh," the male elf began. "You plan on stayin' long?"

"We're only staying through the end of next week," Severus answered. The elf nodded. After another awkward pause, he continued.

"Uhh…I mean right now," he stated. "You plan to stay long?"

Severus looked up at the sky. It was perhaps an hour before dusk.

"I was going to stay as long as there is light," Severus answered. "I'm making a gift. It's a surprise."

He held up his rather pathetic attempt at making a headband for Free.

The male elf just nodded, but for the first time Prissy's interest and curiosity overtook her fear and suspicion.

"That's one fucked up mess!" she exclaimed, coming over and taking the headband out of Severus' hand. "Whatzit meant to be?"

"A headband," Severus answered. "For a girl."

Prissy smiled at him. She was rather pretty when she smiled, Severus thought. For an elf, at least.

"Girlfriend?" Prissy asked.

"No!" Severus exclaimed. "No, she's not my girlfriend. She is just a friend. But she is very nice…"

He held out the macraméd bag he wore around his neck.

"She made me this," he explained. "And she's leaving Monday morning, so I wanted to make her something in return…"

However, both elves were obviously more interested in what he had _in_ the bag, than the bag itself.

"_Pixie piss in a cracker!_" the male elf exclaimed. "If that ain't one o' those Livin' Stones!"

"Lets us see!" Prissy said, reaching up for the bag.

"'Living Stone'?" Severus asked, taking the bag off and handing it to Prissy, who carefully opened the bag a tiny bit and stared in.

"That's what we call 'em", the male elf answered, also peering into the bag. "Ain't easy to find…where'd you get this one?"

"Someplace called Pennsylvania," Severus stated. "I found it last Tuesday, in a stream."

"Yeah, they like water," the male elf said. "Careful, Prissy," he warned, as she poked a finger into the bag. "They can bite."

Prissy quickly pulled her finger out of the bag, and handed it back to Severus.

"What's your name, kid?" the male elf asked.

"Severus," he answered. "Severus Snape."

"Well, Severus Snape, Son of Merlin," the male elf stated, going over and picking up his backpack. "Me and Prissy here already made plans to camp out in this clearing, and it's too late to change, so's we ain't!"

He opened up his backpack, which of its own accord turned inside out and transformed into a gaily-decorated wooden caravan about six feet high and ten feet long, with lace curtains and flowerboxes under the windows. Prissy just as determinedly opened up her own pack, which then transformed into a miniature patio, complete with a miniature fireplace, picnic table and chairs, and two lounges.

"Uhh…be my guest," was the only thing Severus could think to say. "And my father's name is Tobias, not Merlin…"

"That's what _we_ call you folks," the male elf answered, taking off his boots to reveal rather brightly striped socks, before sprawling out on one of the lounges. "'Sons of Merlin', 'Daughters of Persephone'…means magickal folk, wizards and witches to you."

He sat up and offered Severus his right hand.

"My name's Elvis, by the way," he said, as Severus took his hand and shook it. "And this here's Priscilla…"

He gave Severus a rather pointed look, but Severus did not know what he meant by it.

"He don't know!" Priscilla admonished Elvis, coming out of the caravan with three bottles, handing one to Elvis and one to Severus. "He's not American."

Elvis looked at Severus quizzically.

"You're not?" he asked. Severus was not sure whether he should nod or shake his head.

"I'm from England," he answered instead.

Priscilla paused as she raised the bottle to her lips. Elvis spat and then glared at Severus.

"I's thoughts so," Priscilla whispered. "I's recognizes the accent…"

"We're _not_ your slaves here!" Elvis threatened. He took out a long pipe that Severus would have thought impossible to keep in his back pocket, and proceeded to tap some sort of smoking material into it.

"Uh, no," Severus agreed. "No, you are not…"

"Ah! But your lot would _like_ to make us _all_ slaves, wouldn't they!?" Elvis demanded, lighting his pipe and taking a swig from the bottle before laying back in his lounge.

"Uhhh…" was all that Severus could think to say.

"Just so ya know!" Elvis exclaimed, sitting back up. "The rest o' the world don't hold with none of that _Yer-a-peein _crap! Magickal creatures're _free_ everywhere else; betcha didn't _know _that, didja? That there Take-A-Wizz-On-A-Maggot don't _let_ ya know that, _do_ they?"

Elvis again spat, took a drink, and sat back smoking his pipe, staring at Severus, who had yet to move.

"He don't know, Elvis," Priscilla stated quietly. She was deftly undoing all the knots in the headband Severus had been trying to make. "He's just a little boy. Don't even look old enough for that school of their's…"

"How old _are_ ya, boy?" Elvis demanded.

"Uhhh…nine. I turned nine in January," Severus answered.

"See," Priscilla continued. "He's too young. He don't know. Hasn't been taught their lies in that school yet…"

"Yeah, but I betcha his _parents_ taught him _real good_," Elvis spat, turning back to Severus. "Right? They teach you all about how wizards and witches is _better'n_ everyone else, elves 'n' goblins, giants 'n' pixies, centaurs 'n' fauns…hell, you lot think your even better'n nonmagickal _humans_!"

Severus just sat there. That indeed _was_ what his mother had taught him.

"But it's for the greater good," Severus stated, repeating what his mother had told him. This statement resulted in Elvis spitting again.

"'_Greater good_'!?" he exclaimed. "_Whose_ greater good, I ask you? Not the elves whose wands you stole and who you made your _slaves_! Not the giants who you drove to near extinction! Not the centaurs and other magickal creatures restricted to your reservations! You lot would even like to enslave nonmagickal humans!"

Elvis leaned towards Severus.

"I tell you somethin', _boy_!" Elvis growled. "Here in America, they _outlawed_ slavery a hunnerd year ago! Yeah, they used to make slaves o' each other, based on nothin' more than the color o' their skin, how stupid's _that_?"

Elvis, on a roll, continued before Severus could get a word in edgewise.

"And _no_ magickal creature'd ever _dream_ of trying to enslave another! And that includes the Sons of Merlin and the Daughters of Persephone what live here! To their credit, they mostly all think you lot are a bunch of assholes! You _Yer-a-peeins _with your collective noses in the air, thinkin' y'all better'n everyone and everything else, I bet he's one o' those _purebloods_ they go on about, Prissy!"

Prissy did not say anything, preferring to concentrate on working on Severus' headband. Severus finally found his voice.

"I am _not_ a pureblood!" he exclaimed. Oddly, it was the first time he had ever felt compelled to establish that fact. "My father's a Muggle!"

"'Muggle', eh?" Elvis asked, raising an eyebrow and sitting back with an air of triumph. "Don'cha think it a little _odd_ that y'all came up with that word?"

Severus stared at the ground, sighing heavily, and then looked back up at Elvis.

"Believe it or not, I have already _had_ this same conversation some months back!" he exclaimed. "And yes, I realize that it _is_ a _terrible_ word, that it is just the same as other insulting words against other groups of people, words which I won't say to you, because some of my friends belong to those groups and I don't want to insult _them_!"

Priscilla stopped what she was doing and stared at Severus. Elvis contemplated him for some time.

"Take a drink," he finally stated, gesturing to the bottle in Severus' hand.

It was an old-fashioned type of bottle of dark blue glass, with a stopper made out of ceramic. Severus removed the stopper, and tentatively took a sip.

It was hard to describe the taste, and the resulting sensation of drinking the liquid. There was a fruity base, perhaps more than one fruit, but also the sensation of an alpine meadow resplendent with flowers.

However, there was also something that reminded him of the hayloft on a hot summer afternoon. And of the gurgling stream back in Pennsylvania. And of shooting stars, and an aurora borealis on a cold winter's night.

Nuts. He was sure he could also taste some sort of nut. And spices suggestive of Arabia. Evergreens. Oranges. No, apples. Perhaps cherries. No, cherry blossoms. Pineapple and coconut.

A beach of pure white sand, redolent of the scent of tropical blooms and ripe tropical fruit.

No, it was an arctic lake so cold that it was frozen solid, freezing one's nostrils when one breathed.

Severus took another sip.

He had drunk elf wine before -- his mother had let him have a small glass of the beverage on each of his birthdays since he had turned six.

_This_ was not the same substance.

Green. The taste was green. Freshly mowed grass and just-picked herbs and mint and trees bursting into leaf in spring. Olives and crushed basil. Berries.

Now it was autumn, dried leaves, bonfires, and bread fresh out of the oven.

A pine forest during the first snow of the season.

Honey and treacle and a hint of maple. Peppermint sticks and plum pudding. Perfumed resins, woods, and ancient scented oils.

"How izzit?" Elvis asked, giving a knowing wink to Severus.

Severus stared at the bottle, and then at the two elves, who were looking at him expectantly.

"_What_ is it!?" Severus responded. "I've drunk elf wine before and this…"

He stared at the bottle again and then back at the two elves.

"_This_ is _not_ the same!"

Elvis and Priscilla glanced at each other, Priscilla smiling cryptically before returning to working with Severus' yarn and cords. Elvis just chuckled.

"Well, now!" Elvis stated, taking a puff from his pipe. "You're right on the money! It's sumthin' Prissy and I came up with, we call it Elf Wine Cooler, it's a mixture of'elf wines from around the world, and a few other…_proprietary secrets_, as it were! We're thinkin' o' marketin' it as a vacation in a bottle!"

Severus just grinned at them, feeling quite fine. He believed even his father would feel quite fine after drinking some of this Elf Wine Cooler.

"One o' the reasons we wanted to come _here_ on our vacation, sorta do some _market research_ at the fair, hand out some samples, test the waters as it were," Elvis explained.

Priscilla held something out to Severus. He took it and stared at it in amazement.

She had not only crafted a wonderfully intricate and beautiful headband, she had also made a matching belt.

"Thank you!" was all he could manage to say.

"Yeah, Prissy's real handy that way," Elvis stated. "That's why the Big Guy had her start out in the textile department, promoted her to supervisor of Textiles and Small Handcrafts after a few years."

Elvis took a drink from his bottle, and puffed on his pipe.

"Me, I was always into Major Mechanicals, before he made me supervisor of Electronics when they was first setting _that_ up!" Elvis continued. "_That's_ an up-and-comin' area, I tell ya! Didja know, the Big Guy sez that by the end o' this century, most everyone'll have a _computer_ in their house?"

Severus just stared at him blankly, not comprehending a word that he said.

"Yeah, I know," Elvis laughed. "Sounds crazy. But the Big Guy's always been right before, so there you go! Little computers in every house, if ya can believe that! Anyways, last year he promotes me to Regional Manager, overseein' production and distribution for eastern Canada and the U.S. east of the Mississippi…"

Severus wished he had paid more attention to the geography lessons in school.

"Excuse me," he interrupted. "But just _who_ do you work for?"

Elvis and Priscilla looked at him in surprise.

"The Big Guy, of course!" Elvis exclaimed. "Biggest employer of elves in the world! Biggest supporter of elf rights too, by the way!"

Severus looked at Elvis blankly.

"_Santa Claus_, of course!" Elvis cried out. "Big fat guy, white beard, red suit?"

"You call him 'Father Christmas'," Priscilla stated.

"Oh," was all Severus said. Elvis looked at him with an air of disappointment.

"Most kids show a tad more…_enthusiasm_," he observed. "You said you got a non-wizard father, you _must_ have celebrated _Christmas_!"

"Uhhh….no," Severus admitted. "Father Christmas hasn't ever visited us."

However, a vague image came to mind, perhaps aided by the Elf Wine Cooler. He was standing with his face peering between wooden bars. Obviously, he must have been very young, just barely able to walk, and he was in his crib.

"Take another drink, Severus," Priscilla prompted. He did as she instructed, and the memory indeed became clearer.

There was a small evergreen tree, with bits of color and lights on it. His parents actually seemed happy, his father standing behind his mother and hugging her, snuggling his nose into her ear as she laughed. They were telling him something. Something about Father Christmas. And there were things wrapped in brightly colored paper.

He liked the paper. It was pretty. He laughed as he ripped it.

Moreover, there was something _inside_ the paper.

A big fuzzy stuffed toy spider, almost as big as Severus. Four legs on each side. The top leg was attached by a cord to the leg next to it. The bottom leg was similarly attached to the other leg. Both the top and bottom legs had bands of elastic, allowing one to attach those legs to one's wrists and ankles.

The result was one could dance with the spider. Or become the spider.

It was mostly black and fuzzy, but its belly was white and its eyes were deep lime green. Its mouth was comprised of jagged teeth of white felt, made less threatening by its silly, lopsided grin.

He had loved that toy. How had he forgotten about it?

He wondered what had happened to it.

He looked at the elves.

"Yes," he finally said. "Father Christmas used to come to our house. Once, anyway. But he has not been there lately."

Elvis just puffed on his pipe and nodded.

"He won't go where he's not wanted," Elvis explained. "And it has to be _both_ parents decidin'…"

Priscilla had started a fire going in the outdoor stove, and set about making supper.

"Wouldz you likes to stays for supper, Severus?" she asked.

"Uh, no," Severus answered, shaken out of his reverie, and glad for the change of subject.

"_Rrruufff_" Jackson huffed, staring into the woods. Severus and the elves looked in the same direction, and Severus saw the strange shadow creature from the previous night.

Priscilla didn't take her eyes off of the creature, but Elvis turned to look at Severus.

"You see that?" he asked quietly. Severus nodded.

"It has apparently become Jackson's friend," he whispered, turning to Elvis. "What _is_ it?"

Elvis turned to look at the creature, which seemed to be just sitting on the edge of the forest, staring at them.

"Not quite sure," Elvis admitted, keeping his voice low. "We had some around where I grew up in Kentucky; the old elves always said they was part of 'The Wise Ones'…"

"'Wise Ones'?" Severus asked. "What are they?"

Elvis shrugged.

"Hard t'say," he answered. "There's different ones. That there rock around yer neck's one, too. They's…they's been around forever, somes say since the beginning o' time, some say since _before_ time began…"

"They's the Ancient Ones," Priscilla whispered, still not taking her eyes off of the Shadow Creature.

"They's been around since before elf or goblin, giant or centaur or faun or pixie," Elvis stated. "Since before man, magickal or non-magickal."

"Are they dangerous?" Severus asked, gingerly fingering the bag around his neck.

"Could be," Elvis admitted. "Under certain circumstances. But it's not like they's goes huntin' fer us, ya understand? We don't particularly matter to 'em, unless something we do interferes with 'em. _Then_ they can get nasty…"

"But they _are_ magickal, aren't they?" Severus pried. "I mean, none of my friends can see it."

"Yeah, well in that respect I guess ya could say they's magickal," Elvis allowed. "But really, they're more a class to themselves…beings from a time before our kind was created."

At that moment, there was a terrible screech overhead; for the first time Severus understood what the term "blood curdling" meant.

The sky grew dark, and something flew overhead. A very _large_ something.

Jackson started barking frantically at the sky, and Severus and the elves looked up to see a large, bird-like creature flying over the clearing and into the sunset. Jackson continued to bark and run around in circles after the creature had disappeared.

Severus was not sure what it was. In some ways it reminded him of a prehistoric creature he had seen pictured in one of his schoolbooks.

"What was _that_?" he demanded.

"Folks around here call it a Thunderbird," Elvis stated. "Might not be the same as _the_ Thunderbird, mind ya, but it serves pretty much the same function…"

Priscilla suddenly became much focused on getting supper done.

"What is a Thunderbird?" Severus asked. He had never heard of such a creature, so he had no idea how to compare an allegedly 'real' Thunderbird with something that was deemed similar to it.

"Another one o' those Wise Ones…or _Ancient Ones_, as Prissy calls 'em," Elvis answered, sitting back in his lounge and taking a draught of his Elf Wine Cooler. "All sorts o' meanin's put into their appearance over the years, but mostly it just means there's goin' to be a bad storm soon. Or some sort o' disaster. My money's on the storm, judgin' by those thunderheads peekin' o'er the top o' those trees o'er there…"

Elvis pointed to the northwest, and indeed the sun was just then being covered by a mushrooming cloud.

"Youze better gets back before the storm, Severus," Priscilla suggested. "Unless'n youze wants to stay with us…"

Severus looked at Jackson, who was now sitting next to him but obviously anxious to leave. Severus scanned the edge of the woods where the shadow creature had been, but now did not see anything there.

"No, I better be getting back," he decided. "Otherwise they might come looking for me and Jackson…"

Elvis nodded, and then without a word got up and went inside his caravan, emerging a short while later with another bottle of Elf Wine Cooler.

"Share it with yer friends," he said, handing it Severus. "Let us know how they like it. We haven't had a chance to test it on nonmagickals yet, we'd be interested in knowing it's, ah, _effects_!"

"Thanks," Severus stated with a slight grin. "How long are you planning on staying here?"

"Well, our plans are sort of…_flexible_," Elvis answered, grinning and scratching his head, and giving a glance back at Priscilla. He leaned towards Severus and lowered his voice.

"Thing is," he continued, "they's sorta hard-nosed at the Pole 'bout non-married elves, ah, _fraternizing_, if ya catch my drift…"

Severus was not sure that he did, but said nothing.

"So's this is the only time Prissy 'n' me can be alone," Elvis continued. "We sorta wanna, ya know, take _advantage_ of it…"

Elvis annoyingly nudged his elbow into Severus' ribs.

"So, in answer to your question," Elvis said. "Probably through the end of next week…at least through Wednesday. There's a cousin o' mine in Tennessee that we wuz thinkin' of stoppin' in t'see 'fore we's head back up north…"

It was growing darker.

"Ya better get back," Elvis offered. "Stop by and see us again!"

He held out his right hand. Severus took it and shook it. He put his wand, headband and belt into his satchel, and then said goodnight to the elves, turning and leaving the way he'd come.

However, he did not go back to the loft. As he emerged from the woods back onto the farm, he noticed that the cows were now moving in a line from their field onto the path leading back to the farm. Jackson noticed it also, and ran off to urge the cows along.

Severus walked towards the main house, not being sure why, perhaps to warn the adults about the coming storm. He came up to the patio, hidden by the bushes and the growing darkness. He could hear voices on the other side, and for some reason he decided to remain hidden.

"We can't say everything we know about what happened to them," Benjie was saying. "Fact is, there's a lot we _don't_ know!"

"But they _all_ come from a bad situation!" Annie exclaimed. "Have you seen them sleeping together? They're like a damn litter of puppies, all curled up together, protecting each other! I don't know what's worse -- that Azalea and Severus have abusive homes, or that the others _had_ abusive homes and the state _still_ put them into abusive foster homes!"

Severus wondered how Annie knew or guessed that he came from an abusive home, but after a short pause, that question was answered.

"Severus was also abused?"

Severus recognized Jack's voice.

"Well look at him!" Annie exclaimed. "Look at how skinny he is, and how hungry he always is! They didn't _feed_ him!"

"It could be that his family is just poor, and can't afford much food."

Severus recognized Nierika's voice.

"Perhaps," Benjie answered. "But there's something else…hard to put your finger on. It's how _guarded_ he is about talking about his family. What little we've been able to get out of him, or what the other kids have told us, his father apparently is an abusive man. Sev doesn't say much about his mother…"

"Fuck!" Annie swore. "When he first came to us, he was more interested in letting some little neighbor girl back home by the name of Lily know where he was than in telling his own mother!"

So…the others had been talking about him to Annie and Benjie.

"Angel's another one who doesn't say much about what happened to him," Benjie continued. "But from what we gather from what little he _has_ said, and what Azalea and Yesmina have told us, he had a pretty bad time…"

"He and Steve have become good friends," Tom Temple stated. "If Angel would like to stay, we'd be glad to have him…"

Severus' breath stopped for a second, and his blood ran cold. It dawned on him just what the nature of this conversation was about.

"And DeWard, too, if he'd like," Janet Temple added.

"We'd even have Severus stay," Tom added, "but I think the incident with the chickens and with Bessie this morning suggests that he isn't much of a farmer…"

This statement was met with chuckles all around.

"Well, apparently DeWard isn't either, from what we heard," Annie responded. "Besides, they'll never split up. Angel thinks it's his job to protect the others, and Azalea would freak out if she was separated from them."

"But isn't Azalea going back to her own family?" Isaac asked.

"We hope so," Benjie answered. "We're really not too sure what's going on with that. When we leave here next week, we're heading to Missouri to see her father. She hasn't seen him since she was very young, and doesn't really know much about him, other than his phone number and mailing address. If he's willing and able to take her, then we'll leave her with him…"

Severus went numb.

There had always been talk about Azalea going back to her family, either to live with her father or with her mother or grandmother. In addition, Angel had actually pointed out that no matter _whom_ Azalea stayed with, that it meant that she would be staying and the rest of them would be going.

But now it was a reality. In a week's time, they would be going to Azalea's father's, and if she did not stay with him, it would only be a few days after that, a week at most, before they would be at her grandmother's. Either way, they would never see Azalea again.

Even if Azalea refused to acknowledge it, Severus saw the inevitability.

"If she didn't already have family, we'd consider taking her," Nierika stated softly. "She and Free have gotten really close, like sisters…"

Annie laughed.

"Again," she answered, "it wouldn't happen. You'd have to take the whole kit-n-kaboodle; Azalea won't be parted from the rest."

"You'd go from one kid to six overnight!" Benjie laughed.

Severus could hear both Nierika and Isaac sigh.

"We'd actually do it, if we could," Nierika stated. "But no…we couldn't handle six kids…"

There was a pause.

"Although," Isaac stated, "we probably could find friends of ours who'd each take at least one of the kids. They could at least stay in touch and play together on occasion, even though they weren't living together."

Severus did not like what the ensuing pause implied.

"We'll see," Benjie eventually conceded with a sigh. "The Farm in New Mexico may be just the thing for them."

There was a faint roll of thunder, and the sound of the cows, Jackson nipping at their heels, close to the dairy barn.

"Sounds like we're in for some rain," Patrick stated.

"We better go check on the cows," Tom added, and Severus could hear them get up and leave out the back of the patio. They could not see him hiding in the shadows of the bushes.

"We better clear everything before it starts raining," Janet stated, and Severus could hear movement on the other side of the bushes as everyone helped to clear the table and move inside to the kitchen.

Severus walked slowly towards the herb garden, deep in thought over what he had just heard.

He made his way to the bench in the center of the garden. The bees of the previous day had been replaced with fireflies. Another roll of thunder pealed, this time a little louder than before.

He sat down, and took a deep sip from the opened bottle of Elf Wine Cooler.

He did not want to leave this farm. Moreover, the Temples had indicated that they would be willing to keep him, even though he did not like the chickens or the cows.

However, they were only also willing to take Angel and DeWard; no offer had been made for Azalea or Yesmina.

In fact, now that he thought about it, _no one_ had made an explicit offer for Yesmina.

But Azalea was going to go stay with her family. Within two weeks, probably less, they would never see her again anyway.

Could he and Angel convince the Temples to also take Yesmina? Severus concluded that they could not.

And Angel would never leave Yesmina or DeWard; he felt that it was his duty to protect them both. Angel would never agree to stay behind on the Temple Farm unless both of them also stayed.

Moreover, Severus very keenly realized that the Temple's offer to take him was predicated on at least Angel staying, too. Severus knew that the offer would never apply for just Severus by himself to stay.

Severus was suddenly aware of missing Lily very much. Lily seemed such an anchor to him. He knew that if Lily were here, somehow things would not change; they would always stay the same.

He took another deep sip of the Elf Wine Cooler.

Someone inside the house had put on a record, and its soft tune drifted out to Severus.

_Take another sip my love  
__And see what you will see --  
__A fleet of golden galleons  
__On a crystal sea.  
__Are you sitting comfortably?  
__Let Merlin cast his spell._

It was a nice tune. Normally Severus would have been intrigued by the reference to Merlin.

Tonight, it just seemed to mock him.

_Ride along the winds of time  
__And see where we have been --  
__The glorious age of Camelot  
__When Guinevere was Queen.  
__It all unfolds before your eyes  
__As Merlin casts his spell._

A ghostly figure drifted towards Severus. Severus could almost believe that it was the ghost of Guinevere, but as it got closer, it materialized into the image of Yesmina, who happened to be in one of the white cotton smock dresses she had chosen earlier.

"It's going to rain," she said, sitting down next to him, as another peal of thunder cracked, this time much louder than the previous ones.

"Yeah, I know," Severus sighed.

"We were worried," she said. "You've been gone so long, and no one knew where you were."

"I was making a gift for Free," Severus answered. Yesmina just looked at him. Severus hoped that she could not see that his eyes were wet.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the bottles of Elf Wine Cooler. Severus chuckled.

"Here, try some," he offered, handing the almost empty opened bottle to her. She took a drink, paused, and then smiled.

"It's like…it's like going on vacation!" she enthused. "It's like you suddenly traveled to all these nice places in the world in a minute!"

Severus just smiled and nodded.

_The seven wonders of the world  
__He'll lay before your feet  
__In far-off lands, on distant shores --  
__So many friends to meet.  
__Are you sitting comfortably?  
__Let Merlin cast his spell._

"Come on," he offered, standing up and holding his hand out to Yesmina, who took it as she stood up. "Let's share it with the others."

They walked hand-in-hand back to the loft, just making it inside as the first raindrops fell.

* * *

_Take another sip my love  
__And see what you will see --  
__A fleet of golden galleons  
__On a crystal sea.  
__Are you sitting comfortably?  
__Let Merlin cast his spell._

_Ride along the winds of time  
__And see where we have been --  
__The glorious age of Camelot  
__When Guinevere was Queen.  
__It all unfolds before your eyes  
__As Merlin casts his spell._

_The seven wonders of the world  
__He'll lay before your feet  
__In far-off lands, on distant shores --  
__So many friends to meet.  
__Are you sitting comfortably?  
__Let Merlin cast his spell._

**ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY?  
**The Moody Blues  
_On the Threshold of a Dream  
_1969


	19. Chap 17 Lazy Days Aug23Aug24'69

**CHAPTER 17 -- LAZY DAYS**_**  
Saturday and Sunday  
August 23-24, 1969**_

* * *

_I'd again like to thank KarenTheUnicorn and her excellent "Soul Weaver" story on this site for the "flavoring" in this chapter_

_**

* * *

**_

Severus had never seen anything like it.

He had heard classmates and neighbors talk about "fairs", but he had never experienced one for himself.

Even though they had made an early arrival so that they could help set up the Temple Farm booth, to Severus it already seemed crowded, and was only getting more so.

Rusty and Jill were helping their mother set up the area where the goats' milk soap was on display and for sale next to some jars of Temple Farm honey that were also on sale. Severus, Angel and Steve were on their third trip back from the van, carrying more smocks to be sold.

Severus tried to see more of the fair on each trip back to the van. There was an area that was devoted to the display and judging of farm animals, another area where various recipes were being judged (and samples given out), another area where various foods were being sold, and the area they were in where various items were for sale.

However, what intrigued Severus was the area where, just beyond a small stage where entertainment was later to commence, there were brightly colored constructions. Angel and Steve told him this was the amusement park area, where there were rides called rollercoasters and Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds, and also booths where one played games of chance, where one could win prizes.

After their last trip back to the booth with another load of smocks, Annie gave them cans of soda and told them to go enjoy themselves at the fair.

Severus put his satchel over his shoulder, and he and Angel joined Steve, Rusty, and Jill, who obviously knew their way around the site.

Azalea and the others had disappeared as soon as the job of carrying smocks had been assigned, and Severus assumed that she had taken the others shopping.

However, they found her, Yesmina, Free, DeWard and Dawn in the livestock area, tending to Bessie. Severus smugly smiled, noticing that Bessie almost glowed compared to the other cows in her area. Moreover, the girls had accentuated her beauty by tying ribbons and flowers to her halter, and someone had actually made her a crown of flowers.

But Bessie had nothing on the girls themselves, who had all worked ribbons and flowers into their own hair. Azalea and Free were wearing jeans with short-sleeved versions of the smock top that had been made the day before. Yesmina and Dawn, like Jill, were each wearing dress versions of the smock. Steve was wearing the denim-fringed version, the only boy electing to wear one.

"Doesn't she look _beautiful_?" Dawn enthused, when she saw her brother, Severus, and Angel arrive. "She's _sure_ to win a prize!"

Steve laughed and tousled his sister's hair, which annoyed her.

"Don't mess my hair!" she complained.

"Don't she look _purty_?" Azalea joked, as she, Free and Yesmina struck a pose with Bessie.

"Y'all look like the cow," Angel observed, which garnered him an attempt on Azalea's part to kick him.

DeWard was standing some feet away in an empty stall, just staring. The look he gave Severus suggested that they both shared the opinion that saying nothing was the best course to take.

"Where's Jay and Dave?" Rusty asked, looking around.

"They're with Libby down at the end, with the O'Connor's cows," Dawn answered, pointing down toward the far end of the barn. "_Their_ cows aren't as pretty as Bessie!"

Everyone followed Rusty as he went down to the other end. Severus observed all the other cows, and indeed none did seem as pretty as Bessie.

They found Jay and Libby with their parents, tending two cows. Dave was sitting nearby.

"Hey!" he called out, when he saw the others.

"Hey, yourself!" Steve replied. "What's up?"

"We're just finishing up here," Jay answered, brushing one of the cows.

"Bessie's prettier!" Azalea announced undiplomatically. Dawn enthusiastically nodded her agreement.

The O'Connors laughed.

"There's more to winning a prize than just looking pretty!" Mr. O'Connor stated, which made Dawn pensive and Azalea frown.

"What're we going to do now?" she demanded, obviously not caring to spend any more time amongst cows.

"Well, the rides will be starting soon," Libby observed, looking at her watch. "We can head over there, get something to eat along the way…"

It was just before eleven in the morning. The storm from the night before had cleared the humidity, but it was very warm, without a cloud to offer respite from the sun. As they walked towards the amusement rides Yesmina, who was wearing a long-sleeved version of the smock that had been made into a dress of light muslin with a lace collar and cuffs, retrieved a broad-brimmed hat from her bag to protect her face. She then hurriedly applied Severus' lotion to her face and hands, before putting on a pair of sunglasses.

"Aren't you getting low on that?" Severus asked her, as she put the lotion back into her bag. Yesmina merely nodded.

"You should say something," Severus continued. "Have me make you another batch before you risk running out…"

"Why don't you teach me how to make it?" Yesmina asked.

Severus was somewhat taken aback by the question. However, when he thought about it, he could see no reason for _not_ teaching Yesmina the process. He just nodded without saying a word.

They walked down a path lined on each side with booths selling various gastronomic treats. They spied Andy and April with their mother Corrine at one booth buying something the others told Severus was called "cotton candy".

Severus was intrigued as he saw what looked to be wisps of clouds appearing seemingly out of nowhere, which were then gathered on a stick. The woman doing this process had three different vats, into two of which she poured a thick, colored liquid. She would then create clouds of different colors from the various vats, usually creating a treat of all-pink clouds, but occasionally spinning a multi-colored confection of pink, white, and blue.

Severus eagerly bought a pink, white and blue version, and even though he was surprised that the different colors did not have correspondingly different flavors, he was very pleased at how sweet the confection was, even though it made his face and hands quite sticky.

There then proceeded a somewhat heated discussion on where to go next. Jill and Libby decided to check out the area where goods were for sale, and promised to meet up with the others "later". Azalea wanted to check out the games of chance, while the boys and Dawn were just as eager to try out the rides. Free, when pressed, stated that both choices were like, groovy, man. Yesmina was undecided, finally admitting that most of the rides scared her at the same time that she really desired to ride them.

It was finally decided to try out the rides before it got later in the day and the lines got too long. They then could get something to eat and sit in the shade on the grass enjoying the entertainment later in the afternoon.

As they got nearer to the rides, Severus could not help but feel excited looking at the large structure that the others called a "rollercoaster", especially when he saw the ride start. It went _very_ fast. He could imagine that it would be similar to flying. However, he did not understand why most of the riders were screaming.

They eagerly paid the fee and lined up for the next available ride.

Almost everyone. DeWard and Dawn were disappointed to be told that they were too young for the ride, and that there was a "kiddie" rollercoaster a short distance away that they could ride instead. DeWard just looked disappointed, but Dawn was highly incensed.

However, Severus noticed that Yesmina almost seemed too eager to use it as an excuse _not_ to ride the larger rollercoaster, as she volunteered to 'look after' DeWard and Dawn, a suggestion that just seemed to insult Dawn even more.

After a short wait the previous ride ended, and Severus and the others were able to eagerly grab seats. Angel and Steve warned that the "safest" seats were in the middle, that both the front and the rear seats had their own types of intense scariness.

The other boys piled into the rear seats. Severus grabbed the very first seat, annoying Azalea, who had tried to grab the first seat for herself and Free.

Azalea just glared at Severus as she and Free got into the seat just behind him.

"You can sit up here," Severus offered, indicating the empty seat next to him.

"And leave Free by herself, I suppose!" Azalea exclaimed. "That's _rude_, Mr. Rude!"

Severus looked from her to Free, confused.

"Hey, it's cool, man," Free observed. "I've ridden on _lots_ of rollercoasters. I've been to Disneyland. And Knott's Berry Farm…the one in Valencia…"

Severus had no idea what Free was talking about, but he noticed that Azalea looked impressed.

Perhaps because everyone else who got onto the ride was with at least one other person with whom they sat, but when the ride started Severus was all alone in the front seat.

It started out slow at first. He wondered if it really was not as scary as the others had indicated.

However, after it had slowly climbed many feet into the air, it suddenly dropped.

And dropped very fast.

Severus thought he would lose his cotton-candy-filled stomach.

The ride whipped sharply to the right, and then sharply inclined before again reaching a sharp descent that also sharply turned to the left. The girls in the seat behind him screamed at every drop.

Severus was gripping the metal bar in front of him, but Azalea leaned forward and screamed at him at the crest of the next incline that he should let go and raise his hands in the air when they descended.

Severus did as she instructed.

Severus screamed, in spite of himself.

But it was wonderful. He had never felt so free, so liberated, in his life.

He had been somewhat anxious regarding broom-flying lessons at Hogwarts, and the broom "accident" that resulted in him being brought to America had not reassured him regarding his abilities in that area.

Now he eagerly looked forward to learning to master the flying broom. To be able to experience this sensation all of the time, wherever he wanted to, would be wonderful. He and Lily could go flying together. Even go on flying holidays…

The ride ended too soon.

Severus was screaming and laughing at the same time as he was feeling disappointed.

"Let's do it again!" he eagerly exclaimed, turning around in his seat. However, the others were already getting out.

"You have to pay again, man, and then, like, go to the end of the line," Free answered, pointing to the growing line waiting to get on the ride.

"We can do it again later!" Azalea exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Line's getting too long now!"

Severus was disappointed, but did not say a word as he got out of his seat. The line was indeed long, and the wait to get back onto the ride would be much longer than it was before.

However, as he followed the others to the exit, the small man who ran the ride leaned over and whispered to him.

"Come back tonight after closing," he said. "We have a special run for _your _kind!"

Severus quickly turned around to look at the man, but before he could say anything, the strange little man had scuttled away to make sure that the new riders were securely locked into their seats.

They rejoined Yesmina and the others at the foot of the stairs descending from the rollercoaster. Dawn had her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot.

"That other rollercoaster was pretty lame," DeWard complained.

"We're old enough for _that_ ride!" Dawn exclaimed.

"No you're not, pipsqueak!" her brother retorted. "You're too small, you'd fall right out!"

"Would not!" she responded, as they all started walking away.

"Would too!" Steve answered.

This went on for another two minutes, and both were saved from eventually being kicked by Azalea by the decision that they'd all stop to get funnel cakes.

There was a fairly long line for this treat, which Severus decided was well worth the wait when he was finally able to sit down and enjoy the fried dough confection.

The next stop was at one of the carousels. These were another set of age-restricted rides, the larger one being described as a "steeplechase" restricted to those who were twelve and older, and a smaller, slower, more traditional merry-go-round for younger riders.

Perhaps because now the age restriction encompassed Severus, Yesmina, Angel and Free, there was an agreement that _all_ of them should lie about their ages and get onto the larger, more "dangerous" steeplechase ride.

Free, being fairly tall for her age had no problem convincing the ride operator that she was really twelve. And perhaps because the man didn't really care, he only gave Severus, Angel and Yesmina a cursory glance and waved them onto the ride after they claimed that they were all short for their age.

However, Dawn and DeWard could not convince him that they also were just very short for twelve year olds. Therefore, they stood glumly watching the others as they chose their steeds.

Severus particularly liked one black stallion that looked like it was rearing on its hind legs, ready to bring its front hooves crashing down on some enemy. Its eyes were bulging, and its nostrils not only flared, but also glowed red as if it could breathe fire.

Azalea deemed it "ugly" and then chose a dragon to ride that was on the outside, Yesmina said Severus' looked "scary" and chose to sit on a pretty white mare with flowers carved into its halter that was next to it.

Free, though, said she thought it looked "Cool, man!", and chose for herself a seahorse painted in glowing green metallic paint that was in front of Azalea's purple dragon.

Angel and the other boys all chose horses, Severus noting that all of them were on the outer perimeter.

As they sat there waiting for the ride to start, he noticed that neither Dawn nor DeWard were to be seen. He wondered if they had decided to try the other carousel.

But then their own carousel started moving, slowly at first, and when it had made half a turn and Severus's horse was now positioned at the back of the ride, he saw Jack lifting first Dawn, and then DeWard onto the ride.

Both Dawn and DeWard quickly ducked into the inner part of the carousel where it would be harder for the operator to see them, and they were each able to jump onto a horse before the ride got too fast to do so.

Severus grabbed the harness of his own steed and settled in as the speed dramatically increased. He noticed that Azalea, Free, and the other boys all leaned out and tried to grab something at one particular location every time the carousel passed that spot. Azalea was growing more frustrated, as each time she made a grab and missed.

Severus was in the second row of rides, and so could not reach whatever it was the others were trying to grab. He turned to Yesmina, who was in the third inner row. Her flower-and-ribbon bestrewed hair streamed out behind her, and in her white muslin-and-lace smock, she rather looked to Severus like some princess from a long ago era.

She was quite pink, flushed with excitement, and her head was thrown back in laughter. Severus realized that she was experiencing a similar sensation to what he had felt on the rollercoaster.

"What are they trying to grab?" he yelled at her, gesturing his head to Azalea as she again tried to grab something as her dragon sped by.

"The ring!" Yesmina exclaimed breathlessly. When she saw Severus' questioning look, she added, "The golden ring! If you get the golden ring, you can ride again for free!"

She threw her head back again and laughed, almost hysterically.

"_I_ could ride this all day!" she exclaimed.

Severus looked back and saw that Jay had actually grabbed a ring as he went by, but he then threw it down in disgust, and Severus saw that it was silver in color, and not gold.

The ride was quite fast now, and because Severus' steed was rearing onto its hind legs, it was now quite difficult to stay seated and not fall off if one was not firmly grasping the horse's reins.

Nevertheless, Severus firmly grasped the reins in one hand, and fished around in his satchel with the other, squeezing his legs around the horse's belly as much as he could to aid in keeping on it.

He pulled out his wand. He was sure that he could do it. Hell, he had done it _without_ a wand back in New York, when he got food out of those vending machines.

He concentrated on the device that was dispensing the rings as his steed approached it. This was actually rather difficult to do, as his rearing steed's head would block his view of the device every time the horse reached the apex of its movement.

He tightly grasped the reins in his left hand, squeezed his legs around the horse's body, and leaned to his right.

"_Accio rings_!" he shouted as he passed the device, and suddenly at the foot of his steed he saw a steadily growing pile of rings, most of which were silver in color, but which also had a few gold colored rings amongst them.

"_Ow!_" Severus heard both Jay and Dave exclaim, at the same time as Azalea's, "_What the fuck?_", and Free's, _"Like, weird, man!" _Severus could see both Dawn, DeWard and other riders on the carousel swatting at something as both Dawn and DeWard dove off their horses and took cover in a brightly painted seat that had a highly carved back that was tall enough to grant them cover.

However, it was Yesmina's quiet, "_Ouch!_" that concerned Severus the most. The ride was slowing down, and he turned to see Yesmina rubbing her right hand, and a gouge dug into the neck of her horse that had not been there before.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked her. She moved her hand away from the spot she had been rubbing, and there was an ugly purple splotch rapidly growing on the back of her right hand. She and Severus just looked at each other, and then Yesmina silently retrieved a small bottle from her bag and took a sip, and then rubbed some on the ugly bruise. The mark stopped growing, and faded to grey and yellow.

"Sorry!" Severus apologized. "I did not think that one through enough…"

They both looked at the pile of rings beneath Severus' horse, as the carousel slowed to a stop.

"But I _did_ manage to get you some gold rings!" Severus exclaimed, jumping off his horse and starting to sort through the pile.

"What the _fuck_ was _that_!?" Azalea demanded, coming over. "You tryin' to _kill_ us all, English Boy!?"

"Sorry," Severus again apologized. "I just wanted to get Yesmina some gold rings…"

Severus held up a gold-colored ring, but his countenance darkened as he looked at it more closely.

"This isn't _gold_!" he spat. "It looks like brass!"

"Of course they're brass, asshole!" Azalea exclaimed, helping to sort through the pile of rings. "You don't think they give out _real gold_, do you?"

"I'd hoped they were…" he stated, looking at Yesmina, who just smiled at him.

"Thank you, Sev," she stated, sliding off of her horse. "They'll still get us free rides…"

By this time, the others had joined them, so it was not long before all of the brass rings were found, and all of the children except Dawn and DeWard got back into line to get back onto the ride, all proudly displaying a brass ring on their finger when it came time to buy a ticket.

By the time the fourth brass ring in a row had been presented, the ride operator decided to object. The children then did admit that there had been a "malfunction" with the ring dispenser, and the operator stated that in that case the free rides would _not_ be provided.

However, at that moment Jack seemingly came out of nowhere and pointed out to the operator that nowhere did it state that the free ride for a brass ring was void in the case of mechanical malfunction of the ring-dispensing device, so in the end the ride operator acquiesced and allowed the children back on for free.

And because they now knew that Dawn and DeWard were waiting in back, beyond the sight of the ride operator, Steve and Jay helped the two youngest children to sneak back onto the carousel before it started.

Everyone chose their previous steeds, whether equine or other species, and Severus was able to now fully enjoy his flame-breathing stallion for the whole ride. He kept his wand inside his satchel this time around, but he felt rather smug that he had been able to aim and use his wand correctly while also riding something that was moving at a great speed.

He wondered why magickal people did not utilize devices like this, as it seemed a good way for young children to get preliminary training without the danger of say, flying a broom ten stories in the air.

After the steeplechase ride ended, they meandered away, unsure of what they wanted to do next. There was the large ride called a "ferris wheel" which Severus thought looked intriguing, and which even Yesmina was excited to try.

However, they first passed an attraction offering live pony rides, and even Severus thought it would be fun. He had just managed to ride a flame-breathing stallion twice in a row, a real, live pony should be easy. Angel and the other boys begged off, Severus suspecting that Angel was actually afraid of the live animals, and the older boys claiming that they were "too old" for such a ride.

However, the girls, and Severus and DeWard, were enthusiastic over the prospect, and so they paid their money and got into what was a fairly long line. Severus was not sure, but it seemed as if many in the line were part of some group, as they all seemed to know each other.

"Have you ever ridden a pony? We have a carnival back home, but not pony rides like this! We have horses at home and I've been on one, but my father doesn't like me to, he says it's too dangerous, but a pony should be okay, don't you think?"

A flurry of pink and yellow flitted around Severus and Yesmina. The first impression Severus thought of was of a ridiculously large cupcake frosted in pink, with yellow ornamentation.

But it was just a young girl around their own age, perhaps a year or two younger, wearing what looked to be a pink formal party dress, her head a mass of blond curls. Severus thought it a decidedly inappropriate outfit to wear for pony riding, and he found the girl's incessant flitting around them and unending questions quite annoying.

"Are you here with your parents? I'm here with a group from Virginia. Where are you from?"

Severus tried to ignore the annoying brat, but Yesmina apparently found her charming.

"I'm from New York," she answered.

"New York?" the girl exclaimed, stopping in her tracks. "That's a far way to come, how did you find out about this fair?"

"We didn't," Yesmina answered. "Well, not directly. We were at Woodstock…"

"_Woodstock_!?" the cupcake of a girl shrieked. "You mean that big concert they showed on TV!?"

Yesmina nodded her head, as Severus tried to pretend not to notice that anyone else was there.

"The people we're staying with were working at the concert, so that's how we ended up going," Yesmina explained. "And then we met these people who live here in Indiana who invited us to stay at their farm before we move to New Mexico…"

"_New Mexico_!?" the girl exclaimed. She had annoyingly (to Severus, at least) started to flit about them again like some bird.

"Why are you going to New Mexico if you're from New York? New Mexico's _really_ far away! Why don't you come visit us in Virginia, it's really nice there! Except that hurricane just moved through last week, it wasn't really a hurricane then, just a bad storm, but it rained and rained and rained, and I'm glad it stopped and it's not raining here, except for that storm last night, and the Thunderbi…"

Severus' interest picked up, but the cupcake girl found herself interrupted.

"You sure do _talk_ a lot, don't you!?" Azalea demanded, turning and glaring at the girl, who immediately stopped talking, turned as pink as her dress, and stared at her feet.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "People are saying that all the time."

Severus did not know whether to laugh or feel sorry for her. However, he was glad that Azalea got her to shut up.

"But I don't mean to!" she continued, raising her head, and now including Azalea and the others in her flitting bird dance.

"I really don't! I just get carried away! Are you all from New York, too?"

DeWard just stared at her and nodded. Dawn glared at her as if she considered this annoying thing some sort of competition, then she just folded her arms over her chest and looked away.

Azalea just looked at the girl as if she thought she had lost her mind.

"I'm from California, man," Free answered, smiling at the girl, who stopped moving right in front of Free and stared up at her.

"_California_!?" she exclaimed. "Wow! That's even farther away than New York! Did you all meet at Woodstock?"

"Yeah," Free nodded. "Me and my parents are going back on Monday."

Severus was not sure if Azalea grew a little pale at the statement, but the glance that Yesmina gave him was unmistakable, and DeWard looked like he might cry.

"Oh!" the pink-and-yellow girl said. "That's so sad."

Severus thought that _he_ just might kick the girl if Azalea did not.

"Yeah, I guess it _is_ sort of a bummer, man," Free observed, looking oddly uncomfortable.

Nothing more was said, as it became their turn to ride the ponies.

The way the ride was set up, eight people at a time were helped onto the eight ponies available, and they were led around a small track by workers, most of whom seemed to Severus to be teenagers.

He, Yesmina, and the others got six of the ponies, and he was unhappy to see that the annoying girl in pink was also part of their group. Once she was on the pony, Severus decided that her outfit _was_ decidedly unsuited for pony riding, as the many crinolines underneath it caused the skirt to pouf out in a manner that exposed her knickers.

The smock-turned-into-a-dress that Yesmina was wearing actually was quite comfortable for her. She did need to hike it up a bit, but its length and cut were such that even when she hitched the skirt up to sit in the saddle, the skirt just billowed and flowed over her thighs and legs.

The ponies were just that, small ponies. Severus was a little disappointed, as after the steeplechase carousel ride he was somewhat hoping to be able to ride a real black stallion. However, the ride _had_ been advertised as a _pony_ ride, and that indeed was what they were put on.

Severus realized that the ponies were not horses that had not reached adulthood, but rather were adult horses that had been bred to remain a small size. His ride seemed rather old, and rather tired, and acted as if it would much rather be back in a clean stall munching oats than out in the hot sun, working. Moreover, the teenager leading his pony acted as if he would much rather be at the beach munching a hot dog than out in the hot sun, working.

He and Yesmina, and the annoying girl in pink, were on one side of the track. The others, having completed half the circuit, were on the other side of the track, which was divided by a wooden post fence running down its center.

Azalea and Free were almost at the end; Dawn and DeWard were some distance behind, Dawn insisting on keeping pace with a very frightened DeWard, offering him encouragement. Yesmina's pony was just making the turn onto the other side, with Severus a short distance behind, the girl in pink and another rider bringing up the rear.

It all happened so quickly, and Severus' berated himself for sometime afterwards that he had allowed his senses to be lulled and that his reflexes had been so slow, two things he vowed never to allow happen again.

There was a strange sound behind him, almost as if one of the ponies had screamed. He started to turn to look, but was almost knocked off his own pony as the one carrying the girl in pink raced by, its eyes bulging and nostrils flaring much like the fake horse he'd just ridden.

He had just enough time to register the fact that there was no teenager guiding the runaway pony, and that the girl in pink's eyes were bulging in shock if not fear, when her pony reached Yesmina's.

The runaway pony whinnied in almost a scream, flaring its nostrils and rearing on its hind legs. The girl in pink desperately clutched its neck to stay on, while Yesmina's pony, now quite distressed, whinnied its displeasure, pulled out of the grip of the teenager guiding it, and turned around so quickly to face the other pony that Yesmina almost fell off.

The two ponies then proceeded to bite at each other, and the runaway pony kept trying to position itself at the hindquarters of Yesmina's pony, which was just as determined to kick it and get away. The girl in pink was doing her utmost to try to stay on her own pony, while poor Yesmina was in grave danger of getting in the way of a pony bite or kick.

The teenaged workers just stood around, looking confused. Severus was just about ready to grab his wand and curse the ponies to oblivion, when first Dawn, and then surprisingly Azalea, rode to the girls' rescue.

Dawn got there first, surprising Severus with her horsemanship. She bravely positioned her pony between the two that were fighting, and had her pony start pushing the runaway away.

With an odd command of "Gad yup, mule! ", Azalea then raced up, displaying an even more surprising ability at horsemanship. She tried grabbing Yesmina, but the runaway pony made a move around Dawn's pony, and again the runaway and Yesmina's pony started fighting, threatening Yesmina's safety.

Azalea called the runaway pony every curse word she knew, giving it some very powerful kicks of her own. This resulted in it being surprised enough to back away but then rear up, finally throwing the girl in pink off its back and into the dirt.

This gave Azalea the opportunity to pull Yesmina off her pony and onto her own and ride out of danger's way. Meanwhile, Dawn positioned her pony to push the quarrelling ponies away from the girl in pink, as the teenaged workers finally came out of their stupor and to her aid, walking her back to the ride's entrance.

Severus noted that the girl looked shaken, but had to give her credit that she was not crying.

He looked around him. Free had joined Azalea and Yesmina, all three now off their ponies. Yesmina looked like she was in shock, but Severus was proud of her that she too was not crying. Moreover, from what he could see, she did not look injured.

Severus and DeWard's rides were just standing, unmoving, as the teenagers guiding their ponies did not seem sure what to do, and neither did they seem disposed to go to the aid of the others who were trying to gain control of the two quarreling ponies.

Indeed, Dawn seemed to have the most control of the situation, as she positioned herself between the other two ponies and with a few choice names to call the teenagers, instructed them what to do to take hold of the ponies and bring them under control.

When this was done, and the two troublesome ponies had been cleared from the track, Dawn turned and looked at Severus, and then without a word rode up (without help) to DeWard, grabbed the line out of the worker's hand, and led DeWard's pony to the end of the track and then dismounted, helping DeWard to then dismount his own pony.

Severus then saw DeWard run out of the ride, and noticed at this point that everyone else had left, also.

He turned and looked at the teenager who was still holding onto the bridle of Severus' ancient pony. The teenager just shrugged, and without saying a word turned the pony around and brought it back to the starting gate rather than taking Severus around the whole track.

After helping Severus off of the pony, both teenager and pony disappeared into the stall areas. Severus assumed that both had gotten their wish of not working that day.

He could not see anyone he knew, but he could hear Dawn's voice very clearly coming from the outside. He exited the ride, and found an anxious Angel hovering over Yesmina, who was sitting on a bench with Azalea, who had her arm around her, Free sitting on the other side. Dawn was very loudly explaining to Steve and his friends what had happened inside, obviously quite insulted over the whole thing. DeWard just stood behind the girls, looking unsure of what he should do. He looked up at Severus with tears in his eyes.

Steve and Dawn went storming back into the ride area with Steve's friends following. Severus could hear Steve yelling at the ride operator, demanding that they return the money that had been paid for the ride. It was obvious that the operator was balking at the demand, especially when Steve said he'd put his little sister in danger, and the operator pointed out that Dawn seemed to be very capable of taking care of herself.

However, it was when Steve and Rusty mentioned that their parents were working at the fair, and that they would come back with their fathers, that the operator acquiesced and refunded the money that had been paid for admittance to the ride.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked Yesmina, as he came up to her.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed in a shaky laugh. "_That_ was really strange!"

"It was like, hairy, man!" Free agreed. She then looked at Azalea.

"Where did you learn to ride like that?"

Yesmina turned to look at Azalea.

"Yes, where _did_ you learn that, Azalea?" she asked.

For the first time since he had met her, Azalea actually looked shy. He thought that she might even be blushing.

"My granny had an ol' mule," she mumbled. "We used t'ride it…"

"Mule?" Yesmina asked. Azalea looked up to the sky and sighed, and then looked at the others.

"Well, mostly it just let us _sit_ on it!" she admitted. Then she sat up straight, ran her fingers through her hair, and looked very proud. "_I_ was the only one could get it t'move! _I_ was the only one who actually could _ride_ it, th'others they just _sit _on it cuz it wouldn't move fer them!"

Yesmina and Free just stared wordlessly at Azalea. Severus caught DeWard's eye over the top of Azalea's head, and noticed the amazement on DeWard's face.

"So, Azalea," Severus drawled with a slight smile. "Your grandmother has chickens, and cows, and pigs, _and_ a mule…just _how_ big is this farm she has?"

Azalea looked at him indignantly.

"She don't have no pigs, I told you that Mr. Smart-Ass!" she retorted. "Least not anymore! She _did_ have _some_ goats, and _some_ chickens, and _one_ milk cow that weren't there when I was!"

Azalea's hands were now on her hips, never a good sign for the object of her wrath.

"_And_ she don't have none of them no more, Mr. Know-It-All-Smarter-Than-The-Rest-Us-Who-Didn't-Do-_Shit_-In-There-To-Help-Asshole!"

_That_ was a low blow.

"Cuz granny _gave_ the farm to my aunt and granny bought herself a nice place in Opelousas what's easier for an ol' lady like her to keep care of!"

Azalea almost seemed close to tears.

"I'm sorry," Severus apologized. "I'm sorry for making fun of your grandmother's farm, and I'm sorry that I wasn't of any help in there…"

Azalea snorted and made a dismissive gesture.

"You don't know nothin' about ridin' horses anyways!" she stated, turning away.

Severus was thinking that he would be very happy to keep it that way, when Steve and the others came back, handing them their money that had been refunded.

"What happened in there?" Angel demanded. "Why did Yesmina almost get hurt?"

"They're really stupid!" Dawn exclaimed. "The pony they had Yesmina on was a mare who just went into season, and the pony that other girl was on was a stallion who wanted to mate!"

Severus was trying to decipher what Dawn had just said. He noticed that Angel, Steve, and the older boys all looked embarrassed. DeWard looked just as confused as Severus felt. Yesmina looked surprised, Free looked like she found the information interesting, and Azalea looked like she was ready to murder someone.

"What those assholes think, doin' that?" she demanded. "Why they put a mare in heat out there, without warnin' anyone? At least…put a _rag_ on the fuckin' thing, let people _know_!"

Severus stood there, trying to look as if he understood what Azalea was talking about.

"Or a fuckin' _tampon_!" Azalea continued, but this time she started to laugh, as did Yesmina and Free. "They even _have_ any that size?"

Severus noticed that every boy except himself and DeWard was blushing as they started to slowly walk away, trying to look nonchalant.

"There actually _is_ sort of something like that," Dawn told them. "It's really more of a diaper for the mares, it's supposed to keep the stallions from getting to them, but really, it doesn't work. You just need to keep the mares locked up away from the stallions while they're in season."

"A good philosophy for life!" Azalea laughed, standing up and offering her hand to Yesmina, helping her to stand.

After a quick check revealed that Yesmina was indeed physically all right, and that the dress she was wearing had sustained minimal damage (there being a small spot down by the hem that Azalea announced they would _not_ be discussing, but which Dawn observed was probably pony spit rather than what Azalea was assuming), they decided to catch up with the others as they headed to the ferris wheel, Yesmina assuring everyone that not only was she fine, but that she was eager to ride on it.

Severus hung back, following the girls with DeWard by his side.

"What's a 'rag', and what's a 'tampon'?" Severus asked him. DeWard just shrugged.

"I dunno," he answered. "Sumthin' ladies wear. It has something to do with their friend."

This explanation confused Severus even more. Why would ladies have to wear something special when a friend came to visit, and what did _that _have to do with ponies mating?

However, before he had time to think about it any further, they were at the ferris wheel, which was much bigger up close than Severus had thought.

The paid the fee and waited in line, and after about 10 minutes Severus found himself sitting next to Yesmina in a type of cage, being lifted slowly off of the ground and stopping as the others got onto the ride.

After surviving the rollercoaster, the ferris wheel was a rather relaxing experience, even though he and Yesmina ended up suspended at the top of the wheel as other riders got on. Severus rather enjoyed the view, and Yesmina was obviously enjoying herself, too.

She leaned forward to peer over the side, which caused their seat to tilt slightly, resulting in a momentary sensation that they may actually fall out, even though there was a wire mesh barrier to prevent that.

"Sorry!" Yesmina apologized, sitting back in her seat.

"No!" Severus interjected. "I rather _liked_ that!"

He and Yesmina looked at each other, and then laughed.

"It's sorta like flying," Yesmina stated. "Without the danger."

At that moment music started up, and the wheel started turning at a faster rate of speed. It was still slower than the rollercoaster, so Severus found it just mildly enjoyable as they went down, then back up, and then down again.

But then it suddenly stopped, and after a short pause, it started up again in the opposite direction. However, it had only gone a short distance when it again stopped, then started, and almost immediately stopped again.

Each movement was met with screams from some of the cages on the ride. Severus turned to Yesmina.

"Is it broken?" he asked. She just laughed.

"No, they just do that to try to scare the people on the ride," she answered. "As you can hear, some people _are_!"

"_That's_ rather stupid!" Severus complained, now disappointed that there did not seem to be anything more exciting about this particular ride.

"It's fun to ride at night," Yesmina observed. "My mom took me to Coney Island once, at night. They have everything all lit up at night. Look!"

She was pointing to a colored light bulb on a metal strut just above their heads, and another type of bulb that was attached to the top of the cage they were in.

"All the lights are turned on after dark, and it's really pretty!" she gushed. "And you get to see the whole fair lit up when you're at the top! So I think these are really more fun to ride at night!"

"What's Coney Island?" Severus asked.

"Oh!" Yesmina exclaimed. "It's an amusement park back in New York. In Brooklyn."

They still did that. Yesmina and Azalea and Angel, and to some extent even DeWard. They talked to him as if he had been born and raised in New York City, and understood everything about the city that they talked about. Like places called The Bronx and Queens and Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Tribeca and The Village, Little Italy and Chinatown. The Upper Westside, the Lower Eastside. Rikers Island, Fort Apache.

He had no idea _what_ Brooklyn was, but he said nothing. It was odd that he now found himself almost feeling homesick for someplace he did not even know.

When the ride finished, it was early afternoon. It was decided that they would get something to eat and then find someplace in the shade to sit to enjoy the entertainment at the stage area. Yesmina suggested that she and Severus go back to the Temple's booth and get sodas for everyone. Severus wondered if anyone else noticed that Yesmina seemed to be going out of her way to be with him.

However, once they had left the others, Yesmina revealed why she really wanted to get Severus alone.

"You know Free's leaving on Monday?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"We really should do something for her. Like get her a going away gift or something…"

"I already did."

Yesmina stopped and stared at him. Severus just reached into his satchel and pulled out the headband and belt that Priscilla the elf had made the day before, and handed it to Yesmina.

"Sev! This is _beautiful_!" she exclaimed, turning each piece over and examining it. "Oh, Free will _love_ these!"

She handed them back to Severus.

"I got her some stationery the other day, and stamps. That's going to be her gift from both DeWard and me," she explained, as they slowly walked along. "I think Angel's getting her something, but Azalea's desperate, she doesn't know what to get her, and now there's no time to go shopping…"

"Why didn't she buy something the other day, like you did?"

Yesmina sighed, staring at the ground as she walked along.

"Azalea didn't want to think about Free leaving…"

Severus was about to say something, but Yesmina was now staring at something ahead.

"Look!" she exclaimed. "It's that girl from before!"

Severus followed Yesmina's gaze. They were taking a shortcut between rows of booths, and the girl with the mass of blond curls and wearing the pink party dress was sitting on a crate, trying to brush off the significant amount of dirt that had gotten on her dress. It also had a slight tear at its waist, which she had unsuccessfully tried to hide by tucking the torn edge of the skirt into one of her crinoline petticoats. Severus had the fleeting thought that perhaps he should use the same spells on her as he had used on Bessie.

"Are you okay?" Yesmina asked, walking up to the girl. She looked up, startled. Severus noticed that she looked very concerned, almost to the point of fear. However, she had not been crying.

"_Don't_ tell my parents!" she complained. "I wasn't supposed to go on that ride, my parents will _kill_ me! My mother kept saying all the way here not to get dirty! _Now_ look at me!"

"Since we do not know your parents, we are hardly in the position to go tell them anything," Severus observed coolly. The girl stared at him, as if delving into his mind.

"I thought sure _you_ would," the girl answered cryptically. "At least that you would know _of_ them."

She looked at Yesmina, who was frowning at the statement she had just made.

"_You're_ lucky! _You_ didn't get all messed up!" she stated. "_Your_ dress stayed nice. _You_ have a nice dress. _I_ wouldn't mind wearing dresses like that. My _mom_ makes me wear these things instead! _She's _going to be _so_ mad, she's going to _kill_ me that I got dirty and ruined the dress!"

Severus wondered if it was something genetic that made this girl stress every first syllable in the sentences that she spoke.

But Yesmina put her arm around the girl's shoulder and sat down on the crate next to her.

"I'm sure your Mom will be more happy that you're all right, than angry that your dress is ruined," Yesmina comforted. The girl just stared at her.

"_You_ don't know my Mom!" she stated.

Yesmina just laughed.

"Just tell your Mom to buy you some dresses like mine!" Yesmina told her. "They're based on a smock belonging to my friend Sev, here, who's all the way from England!"

The girl stared at Severus as if he was some bug under a microscope. He had the distinct feeling that she was deciding something about him.

"They're being sold at the Temple Farm booth, it's just over here," Yesmina indicated, pointing in the direction of the booth. "You can't miss it. They're selling all sorts of smocks and blouses and dresses, and also soap and honey…"

The girl was strangely silent, critically assessing the dress that Yesmina wore, then again staring at Severus.

She then grinned broadly, jumping up from the crate.

"Thanks!" she called out, as she turned and ran down between the backs of the rows of booths. Yesmina turned to Severus.

"She's a strange one," Yesmina laughed, getting to her feet.

They continued to their destination, and loaded Severus' satchel and Yesmina's bag full of cans of cold soda. Annie stated that she and some of the others would join them at the concert a little later.

As Severus and Yesmina turned to leave, they noticed the girl in the pink dress at the front of the booth looking at the smocks. With her was a fairly tall woman with black hair elegantly styled on top of her head. She was a beautiful woman, but her countenance was one of annoyance. She was examining each dress and blouse critically, turning each item inside out and examining its construction.

The girl spied Severus and Yesmina and tugged at her mother's sleeve. When she had gotten her attention, she whispered something to her, which caused the woman to look over to them. Severus had the same feeling of being examined under a microscope as he had gotten earlier from the girl herself.

The mother's face softened slightly, and she turned to Linda and asked a question. The girl in pink just looked at Severus and Yesmina and smiled, and then gave them a wink.

Yesmina looked at Severus with a questioning look, and Severus just shrugged in response.

"Strange," Yesmina observed, and they then left and found the others sitting in the shade of a tree on the edge of the entertainment area.

On stage a group of men were playing music and singing. Two of them were playing guitars and one was playing what Severus recognized as a violin. Another man was playing something that looked like a giant violin, while the fifth man was playing a strange object that Severus had never seen before. When he asked, the others told him it was an instrument called a banjo.

_I'm just tryin' to make a livin'  
Workin' jobs that I enjoy  
But it ain't easy findin' somethin'  
For this lonesome-hearted boy_

_Now my life is like a highway  
Just too many roads to take  
You know I'll try to take the right one  
Just gets harder every day_

As Severus and Yesmina sat down, Azalea told them it was something called "country music", but Free added that it was actually called "Bluegrass".

Angel just rolled his eyes and whispered that it was corny hick music.

Severus noticed that most of the songs were sad ones, sad to the point of being downright depressing.

_At the east end of town  
__At the foot of a hill  
There's a chimney so tall  
__That says "Aragon Mill"  
But there's no smoke at all  
__Comin' out of the stack  
For the mill has pulled out  
__And they ain't comin' back_

_And the only sound I hear  
Is the sound __of the wind  
As it blows through the town,  
__Weave and spin, weave and spin_

_That_ song was literally a little too close to home for Severus, and his homesickness returned.

_Now the mill has closed down  
__It's the only sound I know  
Tell me, where will I go?  
__Tell me, where will I go?_

"Look!" Yesmina whispered to Severus, pointing to the back of the crowd.

He turned to look, and saw the girl with the blond tousled curls, but now she was not wearing the pink party dress, but rather one of the Temple Farm smock dresses, in a deep blue calico with crocheted lace trim.

She was with an almost bear of a man who shared the same tousled curls, who Severus assumed must be her father. Her mother was tightly grasping one of the girl's hands, and clasping a package wrapped in paper in the other.

_How many times have you heard someone say  
If I had his money I would do things my way?  
But little they know that it's so hard to find  
One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind  
_

The girl waved frantically at Severus and Yesmina when she saw them, then made a circle of her thumb and index finger, and finally gave them a thumbs-up sign and pointed to the package that her mother was holding.

_  
Once I was winning in fortune and fame  
Everything that I dreamed for to get a start in life's game  
Then suddenly it happened I lost every dime  
But I'm richer by far with a satisfied mind_

"It looks like her Mom bought a couple of smocks!" Yesmina exclaimed proudly, beaming at Severus. "You could make a _lot_ of money selling those things!"

_  
_  
_Money can't buy back your youth when you're old  
Or a friend when you're lonely, or a love that's' grown cold  
The wealthiest person is a pauper at times  
Compared to a man with a satisfied mind  
_

When he turned back, the girl and her parents were gone. Severus perused the crowd, but could not see where they had gone. He shrugged, and took a piece of the fried chicken that Angel and Steve had bought.

_I'm as free a little bird as I can be  
I'm as free a little bird as I can be  
I'm free at my age as a birdie in the cage  
I'm as free a little bird as I can be_

_Carry me home, little birdie, carry me home  
Carry me home, little birdie, carry me home  
Carry me home to my wife, she's the joy of my life  
Carry me home, little birdie, carry me home_

_I'll never build my nest on the ground  
Neither in the forks of a tree  
I'll build my nest in the ruffle of her dress  
Where the bad boys can never bother me_

Annie arrived carrying Judy, with Benjie carrying a couple of blankets to sit on. The Swanns were carrying a large thermos jug that turned out to be filled with cold lemonade, and Leon and Corrine arrived with April and Andy in tow, and bringing a cooler filled with sandwiches and fruit on ice.

As the newcomers settled down, and April and Andy decided that the best way to explore the area was by running around it, a new group took the stage whose lead singer was a woman.

"I'd like to sing some of my kids' favorite songs, today," she stated, and then the band started playing and she launched into her first song.

_Come all you rounders, for I want you to hear  
The story of a brave engineer  
Casey Jones was the rounder's name  
On an eight six-wheeler boys he won his fame_

_Now the caller called Casey 'bout half-past four  
He kissed his wife at the station door  
He mounted to the cabin with his orders in his hand  
Said, "I'm gonna take my trip to the promised land"_

_Casey Jones mounted to the cabin  
Casey Jones with his orders in his hand  
Casey Jones mounted to the cabin  
Said, "I'm gonna take my trip to the promised land"_

Severus noticed that almost everyone joined in when the name "Casey Jones" was sung, and a good many people even seemed to know the whole chorus. Not surprising was the fact that Free and her parents were amongst those who knew the whole chorus. More surprising was the fact that Azalea knew it too, as did Yesmina, who explained that she had been taught the song in school.

_Now Casey got to that certain place  
Old number nine stared him straight in the face  
He said to the fireman, "Boy you better jump  
'Cause there's two locomotives, and they're bound to bump"_

_Well Mrs. Casey Jones she sat there on the bed  
She got the telegram that her poor husband was dead  
She said, "Go to bed children, and hush your cryin'  
'Cause you got another Papa on the Salt Lake line"_

The song ended amidst laughter from the audience. Azalea and Yesmina just stared at each other questioningly, as Annie turned to Benjie and the other adults.

"That's the first time I ever heard _those_ lyrics!" she laughed. Benjie smirked, and the Swanns just shook their heads.

However, another song had started which most everyone also seemed to know.

_Froggy went a courtin' and he did ride, uh huh, uh-huh  
Froggy went a courtin' and he did ride, uh huh, uh-huh  
Froggy went a' courtin' and he did ride  
Sword and a pistol by his side  
__Uh huh, uh huh_

April and Andy had found some other children about their own age, and they were all dancing in front of the stage as they sang along.

_Well he rode up to Miss Mouse's door, uh huh, uh huh"  
__Well he rode up to Miss Mouse's door, uh huh, uh huh  
__Well he rode up to Miss Mouse's door  
He knocked so hard that he made it roar  
__Uh huh, uh huh_

_Well he said to Miss Mousie, "Will you marry me?", uh huh, uh huh  
__Well he said to Miss Mousie, "Will you marry me?", uh huh, uh huh  
Well he said to Miss Mousie, "Will you marry me?"__  
_"_Oh, Miss Mousie, how I love thee!"  
__Uh huh, uh huh_

"_Where will the wedding supper be?", uh huh, uh huh  
"Where will the wedding supper be?", uh huh, uh huh__  
_"_Where will the wedding supper be?"  
"We'll get married in a Sycamore tree!"  
__Uh huh, uh huh  
__Yeah!_

"Thank you!" the singer stated as the audience clapped. "I wonder if more of the children couldn't join us?"

Severus looked at the others who, except for Dawn, seemed unsure whether the invitation meant them. Dawn on the other hand, immediately jumped to her feet pulling DeWard's to his, and dragged him up front to join April and Andy and the others.

Annie leaned over to whisper to the Swanns and the Gauchons.

"Dawn has a real crush on DeWard!" Corrine leaned back towards Annie.

"It's mutual, from what I've seen. He _adores_ her!"

Severus wondered what having a 'crush' meant.

_Go tell Aunt Rodie  
Go tell Aunt Rodie  
Go tell Aunt Rodie  
The old gray goose is dead__To make a feather bed_

_It's the one she's been saving  
It's the one she's been saving  
The one she's been saving_

Severus noticed that almost everyone was singing along with this song. He assumed that these must be American songs that were taught in American schools, as he was not familiar with any of them.

"I think _more_ of you should get up and dance!" the singer laughed when she ended the song, and then she launched into a new one.

_Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight  
Come out tonight  
__Come out tonight  
Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight  
And dance by the light of the moon?_

Free was singing along with the others, but her parents gave her a nudge, and indicated with a nod of their heads that they thought that she should get up and join the other children in front of the stage. She turned to Azalea, who was also singing along with the song, and who laughed and jumped up, grabbing Free's hand and pulling her to the front of the stage.

_Give you five dollars if you come out tonight  
Come out tonight  
__Come out tonight  
Give you five dollars if you come out tonight  
And dance by the light of the moon_

Azalea and Free were laughing and dancing with exaggerated movements, and they would almost yell a drawn-out "dance" when singing the last line of the verse.

_I got a gal at the top of the hill  
Top of the hill  
__Top of the hill  
She's a moonshiner's daughter  
But I love her still  
Tell me is she coming out tonight?_

"They actually sing that for their _kids_?" Annie laughed.

"Must be the hillbilly version of lullabies, hon," Benjie answered.

Judy was just laughing and waving her hands.

_In the Big Rock Candy Mountains  
__There's a land that's fair and bright  
Where the handouts grow on bushes  
__And you sleep out every night  
Where the boxcars are all empty  
__And the sun shines every day  
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees  
Where the lemonade springs  
__Where the bluebird sings  
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains_

"You're too young for those cigarette trees," Benjie laughed, tickling a laughing Judy.

_In the Big Rock Candy Mountains  
__All the cops have wooden legs  
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth  
__And the hens lay soft boiled eggs  
The farmer's trees are full of fruit  
__And the barns are full of hay  
Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow  
Where the rain don't fall  
__And the wind don't blow  
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains_

_In the Big Rock Candy Mountains  
__You never change your socks  
And the little streams of alcohol  
__Come a-tricklin' down the rocks_

"Home brewed no doubt!" Benjie laughed.

_I'm a goin' to stay  
__Where you sleep all day  
Where they hung the jerk  
__That invented work  
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains_

"Thank you! Thank you!" the singer called out to the audience, and then she and her band left the stage.

It was now almost four o'clock, and the adults indicated that they would be leaving to go home for supper by five-thirty, much to the disappointment of the children who had hoped that they could stay until after dark.

The next singing group had gone back to singing sad songs.

_Another day another dollar  
That's what I'm workin' for today  
Another day another dollar  
Sure can't buy my blues away_

_Another day  
Another dollar  
Sure can't buy my blues away_

_I'm just tryin' to make a livin'  
Workin' jobs that I enjoy  
But it ain't easy findin' somethin'  
For this lonesome-hearted boy_

_Now my life is like a highway  
Just too many roads to take  
You know I'll try to take the right one  
Just gets harder every day_

After a short discussion of what they should do for the next hour and a half, it was decided that they would first wait in line for ice cream, and then check out the area where games of chance could be played.

Severus hung back, enjoying his ice cream, as the others eagerly went from one booth to the other.

Severus hated games of all sorts. In school, the games he was forced to participate in seemed particularly designed to accentuate any and all of his shortcomings. He _had_ learned a game called 'Checkers', and a similar game called 'Chess'. Indeed, his mother had a set of Wizard Chess that she kept hidden from the eyes of his father, only taking it out when he was not around. She had taught Severus the preliminary moves, and he liked it because it called for intellectual prowess over physicality.

However, these were games of chance, and he did not like playing anything where the odds were automatically stacked against one. In addition, none of the games called for intellectual strength but rather were various tests of physical talent.

Therefore, he stood back and allowed Angel to demonstrate his dexterity with a baseball, which resulted in Angel winning two prizes. He chose a cheap camera as one prize, and a pair of gaily-colored hoop earrings as his other, which he then presented to Free as a going-away gift.

For the first time since he had met her, Severus would describe Free as looking, well…_discomfited. _She looked embarrassed as she shoved the earrings into a pocket in her jeans. She then thanked Angel, and then suddenly threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. Severus thought that she might actually start to cry, but she did not.

It was actually Azalea who looked as if _she_ might cry. She quickly turned her back and stood with her arms crossed against her chest, quickly tapping her foot.

Steve and his friends moved on to display their ability in shooting rifles at moving cartoon ducks, but it was Dawn who actually succeeded in winning a prize at one of these displays, choosing a card game which she promptly gave to DeWard.

Azalea suddenly came up and grabbed Severus by the arm as he was throwing away the stick his ice cream had been on, and dragged him between two booths so that the others could not see or hear them.

"We gotta get a gift for Free!" Azalea whispered vehemently.

"I already have," Severus answered coolly.

"We gotta…"

Azalea stopped suddenly, as what Severus had just said dawned on her.

"When you get her sumthin'?" she demanded.

"I _made_ it," Severus answered, pulling the headband and belt out of his satchel. Azalea took them and stared at them in awe.

"_You_ made these?" she demanded incredulously.

"No, elves from the North Pole made them," he stated matter-of-factly. It was not a lie. And it was not his fault if Azalea chose not to believe him.

Azalea shoved the items back at Severus, who put them back in his satchel.

"_Fine_, Mr. Smart Mouth! Ask those goddamned _elves_ to get _me_ a gift to give to Free!"

"With a mouth like that, I would be surprised if _anyone_ at the North Pole would listen to you," Severus retorted, starting to walk away.

Azalea grabbed his arm, and there were tears in her eyes.

"I _gotta_ get her a gift! Listen! Listen! Look over there!"

She pointed to one of the game booths. To Severus it seemed no different from the others, perhaps a little more difficult, as the object was to throw balls through openings in a spinning wheel, one getting different levels of prizes based on which holes one was able to get a ball through. Angel, who was very good at throwing baseballs, had tried this game and had not been successful in any of his throws.

"What?" Severus demanded.

"Lookit what's on the top shelf!" Azalea whispered.

Severus looked. The best prizes were placed on this shelf. He was not sure what Azalea was referring to.

"Lookit what's on the end!"

He looked, and then saw the object of Azalea's desire.

It was a large stuffed doll. A boy doll. While its clothes were somewhat different, its contours were generally that of Free's doll, 'Bub'. Bub with hair, and a face, and new clothes, and no stuffing falling out.

"We _gotta_ get that for Free!" Azalea whispered in Severus' ear.

"'_We_'?" Severus demanded, whipping his head around to glare up at Azalea. "Where are you getting this 'we' bit? I have _my_ gift for Free already!"

But the tears that welled up in Azalea's eyes made it hard to stay angry with her.

"What am I going to _do_, Sev?" she complained bitterly, stomping her foot on the ground for emphasis. "I'm not bad at throwin' balls, but Angel's a lot better'n me, and _he_ couldn't do it!"

Severus sighed.

"What do you want me to do?"

Azalea smiled and put her arm around his shoulder, leaning close to his ear.

"Just give us a little…_help_…"

Severus looked at her as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Dontchoo go lookin' like that, Mr. Pretend Innocent!" Azalea exclaimed, straightening up and putting her hands on her hips. "You just do whatever it was you did on that merry-go-round this mornin', just this time make balls go through holes 'steada rings flyin' out!"

Severus again sighed.

"It does not work like that," he admitted. "I can _get_ things; I have never _sent_ anything anywhere…"

Azalea harrumphed.

"Why you don't point that thing at a bank and get some money, huh?"

"That would be stealing."

"Oh, and you just _borrowed_ those rings today?"

Severus had to admit that she had him on that point.

"Do you have a ball to practice with?" he asked. Azalea looked confused.

"Practice?"

"Yes. Practice," Severus answered. "Because _someone_ is going to have to actually throw the balls, while I am guiding them into the correct hole. I have never done that before, so _I_ have to practice!"

"Oh," Azalea mused. "I'm not sure. Steve or Dawn might have one back home…"

Severus thought that it was odd that Azalea was referring to the Temple Farm as 'home'.

"We could always use rocks, if nothing else," she continued. Severus nodded.

At that moment the others came looking for them, indicating that it was time to indeed 'go home'.

After a quick supper of cold cut sandwiches and salads, Severus found himself with Azalea and Angel in the orchard, trying to guide rocks that they tossed. He first tried with his wand, and when he was reasonably successful doing that, he switched to hexing the rocks without using the wand.

He was glad that there was a full moon, as they were out in the orchard until well past ten o'clock by the time they all felt reasonably confident in his ability to discreetly hex the balls they would toss the next day.

Everyone else was fast asleep in the loft by the time that they got back, and Severus quickly fell asleep. He had odd dreams, the only bit of which he remembered when he awoke the next morning was of a group of children wearing large pastel-colored plates and dancing around, and one girl who had a tousled mess of golden curls and a large pink plate stating that they were all Neccos.

The next morning's breakfast was simply cereal and milk, with the children being given fruit-filled muffins and fresh fruit to eat on the trip back to the fair.

Additional smocks had been frantically sewn the previous day and night, but even still, the booth was decidedly more barren than it had been at the same time yesterday.

A trip to the livestock area revealed that Bessie had a new ornament hanging on her halter -- a huge red satin floret with matching ribbons hanging down, stating that she had won second prize at the fair. Steve and his parents were very pleased, Dawn was slightly less so, since she believed that Bessie deserved first place and that Bessie's feelings were now hurt.

Azalea took it as a personal affront that all her handiwork on the cow only resulted in a second-place win, even though the Temples tried to explain to her that more went into the judging than just how pretty a cow's decorations looked.

But Severus was feeling rather smug himself, as he was sure his charms that cleaned Bessie, and kept her clean, helped in winning the prize.

None of the pigs won any prizes, but later in the morning they found out that a cheese that had made out of the O'Connors' goats' milk had won a first prize ribbon.

Later in the morning, Severus and the others took a couple of more rides on the rollercoaster, again to the disappointment of Dawn and DeWard, who could not talk their way past the ride operator.

They then tried something called a 'Haunted House'; Severus, far from being frightened, found the whole thing laughable. Apparently the others did, too, as there were more laughs than screams, even when some figure popped out of the darkness, only to turn out to be some mechanical device.

They entered a room full of mirrors which distorted one's reflection, and then left this room only to find themselves in a room that looked normal upon entering, but which caused one to stumble one way or another once inside. Apparently, it was built on principles of optical illusion, looking to be of normal proportions when it was really out of alignment. The result was that one became disoriented and stumbled about as if drunk, which most of the others found fun, but which Severus found a little disconcerting.

However, with help he was able to make it to the exit, which looked like a broad set of steps leading to the ground. But as soon as they had walked down a few steps the steps disappeared, turning into what could only be described as an undulating "magic carpet" that caused them to tumble and roll to the bottom.

Even Severus had to laugh with the others over this last part, and he would have willingly paid another admission fee if he could bypass the rest of the attraction and only ride down the magic carpet again.

However, a short way from this attraction was a 'Haunted Tunnel' that everyone else insisted on trying.

This was an actual ride, where one got into a boat that was then mechanically guided into a darkened tunnel.

The older children joked that it was really something called a 'Tunnel of Love', but with a twist.

Severus ended up sharing a boat with Yesmina, and he wondered if she would be afraid of the dark when their boat first entered the tunnel. But when he looked over, he noticed that she was almost glowing with excitement.

The premise of this ride was much like that of the Haunted House, it remained dark, but with what was deemed 'spooky' sounds, until they came to an area that triggered a light to be turned on, revealing what was supposed to be a scary scene. However, like the Haunted House, these scenes garnered more laughs than screams of fear.

But there _was_ something else in the tunnel. Periodically, Severus would feel something brushing his head.

Apparently so did a few of the others, as he heard Azalea swear, "What the _fuck's_ in my _hair_!?", and Dawn scream in terror.

"It's just the spider, Dawn!" Severus heard Steve call out to his sister. "It's not real, it's fake."

At that moment, Severus felt something brush the side of his head, Yesmina getting the brunt of the 'spider'. But she just laughed loudly, enjoying the experience.

As they reached the end of the ride and their boats emerged back into the sunlight, almost everyone, including Severus, was laughing hysterically.

Azalea, on the other hand, was loudly complaining about her hair getting mussed; DeWard had his hands over his eyes, and Dawn was actually crying.

Steve came over and picked his sister up and hugged her, while Yesmina did the same for DeWard, who just buried his face in her shoulder without saying a word.

"I'm sorry, Dawn," her brother tried comforting her. "T thought you were old enough for it…"

"It was _scary_!" she wailed, clutching to Steve.

"Scary!" DeWard mumbled into Yesmina's shoulder.

"Stupid ride!" Azalea exclaimed. "Be scarin' kids and messin' w'your hair!"

"It _is_ a _haunted_ tunnel," Angel pointed out. "It's _supposed_ to be scary."

"Not _that_ scary t'make little kids _cry_!" Azalea responded. "And it don't say nuthin' nowhere 'bout it ruinin' your _hair_!"

"Yeah, well that's the _real_ scary part, how your _hair_ looks!" Angel taunted her.

This had the pleasant result of causing Dawn to not only stop crying but to laugh, and DeWard to turn from Yesmina's shoulder to stare at Azalea's hair. She in turn immediately dug her mirror out of her bag to check how bad her hair indeed looked, and then she had a few choice curse words for Angel when it turned out that her hair was just fine.

They then wandered aimlessly, buying some corn dogs and funnel cakes to eat. Azalea then nudged Severus, and with a nod of her head, indicated that they should head over to the booths where the games of chance were played.

There was a crowd of people in this area, and they had to wait their turn for the particular game they wanted to play. This actually worked in Azalea's favor, as she convinced Yesmina to get Free to come with her and the others to play at the other booths.

This left Azalea, Severus, and Angel alone when it was their turn. Angel tried again, without Severus' aid, but was only successful in getting one ball into a hole for a lesser prize than the one they desired. Angel chose a water pistol as his prize.

"Why you get that?" Azalea demanded, but Angel just smiled cryptically.

Azalea gave Severus a knowing look as she paid her fee, and took her turn.

One got three tries per turn, and Azalea missed all three.

"Why you not _do_ anything?" she whispered to Severus.

"I do not want to call undue attention to us," he answered. "Try again. This time, it will seem as if you have been naturally improving."

Azalea just looked at him, and then paid for another turn.

Severus stood to the side, trying to look nonchalant.

Azalea stared at the moving target, took aim, and then threw her first ball. She totally missed the target.

"You couldn't hit the side of a barn!" Angel taunted.

Azalea fumed, but said nothing. She again took aim, and threw the second ball. This one _did_ go through a hole, but only for a prize from the second shelf.

She glared at Severus, who only looked away and started to whistle.

With a grim determination, Azalea took aim, and threw the final ball. And she looked as surprised as the booth operator did when the ball went through a first prize opening.

"You get a prize from the top shelf, and one from the second shelf!" he announced.

"That doll!" Azalea exclaimed, eagerly pointing at Bub Number Two.

"What do you want from the second shelf?" the operator asked, handing the doll to her. Azalea stared at the items on that shelf, and then smiled broadly.

"I'll take that water pistol!" she exclaimed, pointing to the item in question. Angel suddenly looked very concerned. Azalea just stuck her tongue out at him.

And then surprised Severus by leaning over and kissing him on the forehead.

"Thanks, Mr. Knight-In-Shining-Armor," she said, giving him a hug.

"I didn't do anything," Severus answered, a glint in his eyes.

Azalea and Angel just stared at him, not comprehending what he had just said.

"What do you mean, you didn't do anything?" Azalea demanded. "Of course you did, we just won, didn't we?"

"I didn't do anything," Severus repeated. "I was going to have you lose this turn and have to try a third turn. So you did it all on your own."

Angel looked incredulous, as Azalea tried to comprehend what Severus had just told her. She then smiled broadly, as she slipped the water pistol into her bag and hugged the new Bub tightly.

She then turned to go join the others, but taking only one step she suddenly turned around and grabbing Bub II by his legs, swung the doll so that it hit Severus squarely in the face.

"_Ow_!" Severus exclaimed. "Why…?"

"That's for makin' us stay up late to practice when you don't even end up _doin'_ anything, Mr. Lazy-Make-Everyone-Else-Do-The-Work!" she yelled at him, then turned and stomped off to join the others.

Severus rubbed the side of his face and looked at Angel.

"Don't even try to figure it out, amigo," Angel stated. "And she has a water pistol now, too. Maybe you can figure out how to get it away from her so's we can have better odds…"

Angel put his arm around Severus' shoulder, and guided him back to the others.

Azalea was just giving the new Bub doll to Free, who was obviously quite surprised and quite touched by Azalea's gesture. Free buried her face in the doll and then clutching it, threw her arms around Azalea and hugged her. Azalea in turn hugged Free, but then started crying. Loudly.

"Oh, brother!" Angel muttered. Severus looked at him questioningly.

"Come on," Angel told him, guiding Severus off to the side where Steve and the other boys had moved to, all of them milling around and looking uncomfortable, not sure what they should do about the display of female emotion. Even DeWard came over, looking as if he'd prefer to be anywhere else.

All the girls were now hugging each other and stating how much they were going to miss each other.

And rather than abating, the emotional outpourings continued throughout the day and into a rather glum supper, provided by the Swanns as their way of thanks for the hospitality that had been afforded them.

Azalea was practically distraught over the prospect of Free leaving the next day; she was so upset, that it was decided that she and Free would take Dawn's bedroom in the main house that night so that the two of them could share one last "sleepover".

As Severus joined the others in a sad walk back to the loft, Azalea's sobbing could be heard from the top floor of the house.

No one said anything; but Severus noticed that Dawn and DeWard were tightly grasping each other's hands, and Steve and Angel hung back, walking closely side-by side.

Thunderheads were building in the northwest again, and Severus wondered if the Thunderbird had flown over in warning earlier when no one was around to see it.

When they reached the loft, Dawn and DeWard went behind some bales of hay and hugged each other, both silently crying.

Steve and Angel, after a few minutes of , "What do you wanna do?", "I dunno", "Wanna watch some TV?", "No", "Wanna play some cards?", "Nah", decided to climb down from the loft and go do nothing someplace else.

This left Severus and Yesmina by themselves, and Yesmina set about packing up Free's belongings.

Severus stood up, went over to the hayloft door, gazed at the pile of hay, and then jumped.

He willed himself to stay aloft as long as possible. He counted silently to himself, "One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three, one-thousand-four…"

It was somewhere between one-thousand-four and one-thousand-five that he finally landed into the hay. He wondered if he could make it to ten seconds before they themselves would be leaving at the end of the week.

He rolled to the bottom of the stack of hay, and just sat with his back to the pile, watching as the clouds gradually blocked the sun and darkened the sky prematurely. He could hear the cows coming in from the fields, Jackson eagerly barking at their heels.

And faintly, over the sound of the animals and the occasional low peal of thunder, the sound of Azalea's sobbing reached them from the main house.

Everyone was sad that Free was leaving, and its further reminder that they themselves would be leaving by the end of the week. Severus had to admit that he was sad, also. However, crying over it would not change what was going to happen. He could not understand why Azalea was so very upset, since she still had him and the others as friends.

"Look out!"

Severus looked up, and there was Yesmina, suspended in the air. One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three, one-thousand-four, one-thousand-five, one-thousand-six…

She landed at the top of the haystack somewhere between one-thousand-six and one-thousand-seven.

Severus smiled. Impressive, but Lily he knew would have been able to remain aloft for at least 10 seconds, probably much longer.

Yesmina rolled down the haystack, coming to rest next to Severus. She was laughing, and turned to Severus and smiled, stating breathlessly, "Hi!"

"Hi," Severus answered, smiling back at her.

They both turned away from each other and just sat staring at the sky, not saying another word for some minutes.

The sound of Azalea wailing something that they could not make out reached them.

"Poor Azalea," Yesmina said. Severus turned towards her.

"I don't understand it," he stated. "I mean, we are _all_ sad, but Azalea…"

He searched for the correct word.

"Azalea adopts everyone she likes," Yesmina stated, still staring at the sky. "Free is like a member of the family. It really upsets Azalea to lose her."

"But she has us!" Severus exclaimed. "She has _you_! It's not like she won't have any friends left!"

Yesmina turned towards him with a cryptic smile.

"It's different with Free," was all she said, and then turned her attention back to the sky.

Thunder rolled in the distance. Severus just stared at Yesmina, not comprehending what she meant.

"_How_ is it different?" he finally demanded, when Yesmina did not offer any further explanation. "I mean, Azalea's known _you_ a lot longer than she's known Free! Why does she like Free better than you? Aren't you jealous?"

Yesmina turned back to look at Severus, surprise showing on her face. She then smiled and laughed, and again laid back in the hay staring pensively at the sky, playing with her hands in her lap.

"I don't have any brothers or sisters. Neither does Angel. Neither do you," she began cryptically. "Neither does DeWard, except…"

She turned reflexively to stare up at the hayloft door, although neither DeWard nor Dawn could be seen there.

"DeWard _may_ have had a sister," Yesmina continued, turning to again lay back on the hay and stare at the sky. "We don't know. It's like DeWard doesn't even know at this point. There _was_ someone who may have been his actual sister, maybe just a foster sister…but she's gone, DeWard doesn't know or doesn't remember what happened to her…"

Yesmina sighed.

"Anyways, Azalea's the only one who has any real family that she remembers," Yesmina continued. "She doesn't have any brothers or sisters, but when she was living with her grandmother, she had a lot of cousins, they were sort of like brothers and sisters to her…"

Yesmina looked at Severus, who was trying to figure out the point of what Yesmina was saying.

"The point," Yesmina stated, as if reading Severus' thoughts, "is that Azalea was never alone when she was younger. She's afraid to be alone."

Severus still did not understand.

"So, she has _us_…she has _you_, you are like sisters!"

Yesmina smiled.

"That's the point," she stated. "We _are_ like sisters. She's my big sister, and I'm her little sister…"

They stared at each other, but Severus still did not comprehend what Yesmina was driving at.

Yesmina sighed, and turned back to look at the sky, although it was now almost completely dark. Thunder was heard again, this time much closer.

"Azalea's never had a friend, a _real_ friend, her own age," Yesmina explained. "At least, not while she's been up north. She tried. She _really_ tried, Sev. It was so _sad_!"

In the dim light, Severus could just make out the tears in Yesmina's eyes.

"She'd meet someone at school who also lived in the project, they'd take the same bus to and from school, and they'd start doing things together….but then the other girl's mother would find out what Azalea did…"

Yesmina turned to look at Severus.

"You know…what her aunt made her do…be with men…"

Severus did not say a word.

"And suddenly," Yesmina continued, "Azalea's friend would stop being her friend. They'd never say why, just find an excuse not to hang with her, or even sit with her on the bus…"

Yesmina again looked away.

"Then she'd try to be friends with someone else, and the same thing would happen. And then, suddenly everyone at school and in the project knew about her, and would talk about her and say mean things. And they started saying mean things to her face. Making fun of her…"

"But…" Severus stammered. "But…what does _that_ have to do with _this_?"

"Don't you see, Sev," Yesmina answered, turning to look at him. "It's different. _I'm_ Azalea's little sister, but _Free_ is the girlfriend she's never been able to have!"

Severus looked at her blankly.

"Azalea feels she has to act like my big sister," Yesmina explained. "But with Free, she can be herself. Haven't you noticed, she doesn't boss Free around like she does the rest of us?"

"Now that you mention it…" Severus mused. "But how is acting like your big sister different than just being Free's friend?"

"Azalea feels she has to look out for me," Yesmina explained. "Just like Angel does. But _you_ don't do that, you treat me like an equal, and DeWard looks to me like _his _big sister!"

Severus opened his mouth, but could not think of anything to say.

"With Free, Azalea can just be Azalea, she doesn't have to put on the act she puts on for the rest of us…"

"Act?"

Steve and Angel passed them without saying a word, and went into the barn.

"It's like Angel," Yesmina stated quietly. "He thinks he has to look out for all of us, including Azalea. But with Steve, he can just be Angel…he doesn't have to always be on the defensive…"

Severus laid back and stared at the sky. A light had come on up in the loft, and music started playing.

_Today's heaven-sent and you're feeling content  
__You worked all week long  
__Still, it's quite sad tomorrow's so bad  
__And I don't feel so strong._

The sky lit up as lightening struck nearby, followed by a loud crash of thunder. A few large drops of rain splattered onto Severus' face.

He stood up and offered his hand to Yesmina, as yet another loud crack of thunder pealed.

"Come on, let's get inside," he stated. However, Yesmina did not move, only closed her eyes and let the rain splash on her face.

"I like the rain," she stated, sighing. "It's…it, like, cleans the air…cleans the streets…"

A flash of lightening revealed utter contentment on her face.

"It will also kill you, if you get struck by lightening," Severus countered, as an extremely loud crash of thunder followed the flash of lightening.

Yesmina opened her eyes and smiled up at him, and then took his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. As on the previous night, they returned to the barn holding each other's hands.

_Lazy day, Sunday afternoon  
__Like to get your feet up, watch TV  
__Sunday roast is something good to eat_

_Now it's almost over 'til week  
__That's how your life goes by  
__Until the day you die_

* * *

_At the east end of town  
At the foot of a hill  
There's a chimney so tall  
That says "Aragon Mill"  
But there's no smoke at all  
Comin' out of the stack  
For the mill has pulled out  
And they ain't comin' back_

__

_And the only sound I hear  
Is the sound __of the wind  
As it blows through the town,  
__Weave and spin, weave and spin_

_There's no children at all  
In the narrow, empty streets  
Since the looms have all gone  
It's so quiet I can't sleep.  
Now I'm too old to change  
And I'm too young to die  
And there's no place to go  
For my woman and I_

Now the mill has closed down

_It's the only sound I know  
Tell me, where will I go?  
Tell me, where will I go?_

**Aragon Mill  
**Traditional

* * *

_How many times have you heard someone say  
If I had his money I would do things my way?  
But little they know that it's so hard to find  
One rich man in ten with a satisfied mind_

_Once I was winning in fortune and fame  
Everything that I dreamed for to get a start in life's game  
Then suddenly it happened I lost every dime  
But I'm richer by far with a satisfied mind_

_Money can't buy back your youth when you're old  
Or a friend when you're lonely or a love that's' grown cold  
The wealthiest person is a pauper at times  
Compared to a man with a satisfied mind_

_When life has ended my time has run out  
My friends and my loved ones I'll leave there's no doubt  
But one things' for certain when it comes my time  
I'll leave this old world with a satisfied mind_

**A Satisfied Mind  
**Traditional

* * *

_Come all you rounders for I want you to hear  
The story of a brave engineer  
Casey Jones was the rounder's name  
On an eight six-wheeler boys he won his fame_

_Now the caller called Casey 'bout half-past four  
He kissed his wife at the station door  
He mounted to the cabin with his orders in his hand  
Said, "I'm gonna take my trip to the promised land"_

_Casey Jones mounted to the cabin  
Casey Jones with his orders in his hand  
Casey Jones mounted to the cabin  
Said, "I'm gonna take my trip to the promised land"_

_Pour on the water boys, shovel on the coal  
Stick your head out the window, see the drivers roll  
Gonna run her 'til she leaves the rail  
'Cause I'm nine hours late with the western mail_

_Now Casey passed out of South Memphis on the fly  
Heard the fireman say, "Boy you got a white-eye"  
The switchman knew by the engine's moan  
That the man at the throttle was Casey Jones_

_Now Casey got to that certain place  
Old number nine stared him straight in the face  
He said to fireman, "Boy you better jump  
'Cause there's two locomotives, and they're bound to bump"_

_Well Mrs. Casey Jones she sat there on the bed  
She got the telegram that her poor husband was dead  
She said, "Go to bed children, and hush your cryin'  
'Cause you got another papa on the Salt Lake line"_

**Casey Jones  
**Traditional

* * *

_I'm as free a little bird as I can be  
I'm as free a little bird as I can be  
I'm free at my age as a bridie in the cage  
I'm as free a little bird as I can be_

_Carry me home, little birdie, carry me home  
Carry me home, little birdie, carry me home  
Carry me home to my wife, she's the joy of my life  
Carry me home, little birdie, carry me home_

_I'll never build my nest on the ground  
Neither in the forks of a tree  
I'll build my nest in the ruffle of her dress  
Where the bad boys can never bother me_

**Free Little Bird  
**Traditional

* * *

_Froggy went a courtin' and he did ride, uh huh, uh huh  
Froggy went a' courtin' and he did ride, uh huh, uh-huh  
Froggy went a' courtin' and he did ride  
Sword and a pistol by his side  
__Uh huh, uh huh_

_Well he rode up to Miss Mouse's door, uh huh, uh-huh  
Well he rode up to Miss Mouse's door, uh huh, uh-huh  
Well he rode up to Miss Mouse's door  
He knocked so hard that he made it roar  
Uh huh, uh huh_

Well he said to Miss Mousie, "Will you marry me?", uh huh, uh-huh  
Well he said to Miss Mousie, "Will you marry me?", uh huh, uh-huh  
Well he said to Miss Mousie, "Will you marry me?"  
"Oh, Miss Mousie, how I love thee!"  
Uh huh, uh huh

"Where will the wedding supper be?", uh huh, uh huh  
"Where will the wedding supper be?", uh huh, uh huh  
"Where will the wedding supper be?"  
"We'll get married in a Sycamore tree!"  
Uh huh, uh huh  
_Yeah!_

**Fr****oggy Went A-Courtin'  
**Traditional

* * *

_Go tell Aunt Rodie  
Go tell Aunt Rodie  
Go tell Aunt Rodie  
The old gray goose is dead_

_It's the one she's been saving  
It's the one she's been saving  
The one she's been saving  
To make a feather bed_

_She died last Friday  
She died last Friday  
She died last Friday  
With an achin' in her head_

_Old gander's weeping  
Old gander's weeping  
Old gander's weeping  
Because his wife is dead_

_The goslin's are mourning  
The goslin's are mourning  
The goslin's are mourning  
Because their mother's dead_

**Go Tell Aunt Rodie  
**Traditional

* * *

_Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight  
Come out tonight  
__Come out tonight  
Buffalo gals won't you come out tonight  
And dance by the light of the moon?_

_Now I got a gal with a wart on her chin  
Toes turned out, and her eyes turned in  
Pretty good gal for the shape she's in  
Tell me is she comin' out tonight?_

Give you five dollars if you come out tonight  
Come out tonight  
Come out tonight  
Give you five dollars if you come out tonight  
And dance by the light of the moon

I got a gal at the top of the hill  
Top of the hill  
Top of the hill  
She's a moonshiner's daughter  
But I love her still  
Tell me is she coming out tonight?

Me and my gal we sit on the stoop  
Sit on the stoop  
Sit on the stoop  
Here dad came out and made me loop the loop  
Tell me is she coming out tonight?

**Buffalo Gals  
**Traditional

* * *

_One evening as the sun went down and the jungle fire was burning  
Down the track came a hobo hiking and he said boys I'm not turning  
I'm headin' for a land that's far away beside the crystal fountains  
So come with me we'll go and see the Big Rock Candy Mountains_

_In the Big Rock Candy Mountains there's a land that's fair and bright  
Where the handouts grow on bushes and you sleep out every night  
Where the boxcars are all empty and the sun shines every day  
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees  
Where the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings  
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains_

_In the Big Rock Candy Mountains all the cops have wooden legs  
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth and the hens lay soft boiled eggs  
The farmer's trees are full of fruit and the barns are full of hay  
Oh, I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow  
Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow  
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains_

_In the Big Rock Candy Mountains you never change your socks  
And the little streams of alcohol come a-tricklin' down the rocks  
The brakemen have to tip their hats and the railroad bulls are blind  
There's a lake of stew, and of whiskey too  
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe  
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains_

_In the Big Rock Candy Mountains the jails are made of tin  
And you can walk right out again as soon as you are in  
There ain't no short-handled shovels, no axes, saws or picks  
I'm a goin' to stay where you sleep all day  
Where they hung the jerk that invented work  
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains_

_I'll see you all this coming fall in the Big Rock Candy Mountains_

**Big Rock Candy Mountain  
**Traditional

* * *

_Another day another dollar  
That's what I'm workin' for today  
Another day another dollar  
Sure can't buy my blues away__Another dollar  
Sure can't buy my blues away_

_Another day  
Another dollar  
Sure can't buy my blues away_

I'm just tryin' to make a livin'  
Workin' jobs that I enjoy  
But it ain't easy findin' somethin'  
For this lonesome-hearted boy

Now my life is like a highway  
Just too many roads to take  
You know I'll try to take the right one  
Just gets harder every day

**Another Day Another Dollar  
**Traditional

* * *

_Lazy day, Sunday afternoon  
__Like to get your feet up, watch TV  
__Sunday roast is something good to eat  
__Must be beef today 'cause lamb was last week_

_So full up, bursting at the seams  
__Soon you'll start to nod off, happy dreams  
__Wake up, for tea and buttered scone  
__Such a lot of work for you Sunday Moms_

_It's such a crying shame  
__Week after week the same_

_Today's heaven-sent and you're feeling content  
__You worked all week long  
__Still, it's quite sad tomorrow's so bad  
__And I don't feel so strong._

_Lazy day, Sunday afternoon  
__Like to get your feet up, watch TV  
__Sunday roast is something good to eat  
__Now it's almost over 'til week_

_That's how your life goes by  
__Until the day you die_

**LAZY DAY  
**_On the Threshold of a Dream  
_The Moody Blues  
1969

* * *

* * *


	20. Chapter 18 The Dream Aug25'69

_So sorry for the delay in updating this story. Rest assured, I have NOT abandoned it, the story arc encompasses 1969 thru the 1990s (perhaps even later, if I follow thru on an epilogue idea I've been kicking around).  
__But I may finish the story in multiple volumes rather than one huge book with gazillions of chapters.  
__Anyways, I hope you like this latest chapter!_

* * *

_**Chapter 18 -- The Dream  
**__Monday, August 25, 1969_

_

* * *

_

The sun was well above the horizon and promising a hot day, when its rays finally awoke Severus.

He knew that as time was counted on the farm that it was relatively late. Yet except for the occasional mooing of a cow, the droning of cicadas, the far-off drone of a tractor, it was unusually quiet.

He rolled over and gazed about the loft.

Yesmina's eyes were still closed, but Severus suspected that she was not really asleep.

Angel and Steve were already up and changing their clothes. Dawn and DeWard were clutching each other, but Severus suspected that they, too, were no longer asleep.

Severus sat up and reached out to Yesmina, gently shaking her shoulder. The quickness with which she opened her eyes proved to Severus that she had only been pretending to be asleep.

"Time to get up," Severus whispered.

"I know," she answered, without moving. "I just…"

She let the sentence trail off. She just looked up at Severus, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

Severus quickly looked away, crawled over to his satchel, and pulled out a clean tee shirt.

Yesmina sat up and silently went through her own belongings, trying to decide what to put on. Angel and Steve went down the steps without saying anything, and Dawn and DeWard got up without saying a word and changed their clothes.

Severus did not know what to say. He did not know whether he _should_ say anything.

He hated this feeling. Sure, he liked Free well enough. However, they had only known her a little over a week. How had they allowed themselves to become so attached to her?

They would never see her again. Oh, there were letters that would be exchanged, even calls on the telephone. But they would never _see_ her again. She was going back to California, and they were going…

Where _were_ they all going?

Steve and Dawn were obviously staying here on their own farm. They would never see _them_ again, either.

Moreover, Azalea was going back to her own family. The one person who was the most desperate to turn them all into one big family would no longer be with them.

That left Severus with Angel, Yesmina, and DeWard to go with the Silversteins to the Hog Farm commune in New Mexico.

However, fact be told, it did not. _He_ would be going back to England. Eventually. Some day. Some how.

To Lily, whom he suddenly, desperately missed.

But dammit! Now he was already missing _these_ kids! _Uranus Anus! _(A curse he had come up with the year before and which his mother strongly cautioned him against using, at the same time as she tried to hide the fact that she was laughing).

_Uranus Anus!_

He desperately missed Lily. However, when he went back to England, he was going to desperately miss his friends here in America.

He _hated_ the feeling, and he hated the power that it meant that they had over him.

Not that he minded that _Lily_ had that power. She was a witch like his mother, after all. But these kids were just Mugg…

Severus caught himself thinking that word.

True, they were not wizards and witches (although Severus had begun to wonder about Yesmina), but they had been nice to him. Nevertheless, he did not like the fact that nonmagickal people had that sort of power over him, that sort of hold on his feelings. In the long run, they would never be able to share his world, let alone live in it, nor he their's.

He kicked a bale of hay in anger and frustration, and then grabbed his satchel and climbed down the steps to wash in the sink downstairs.

He joined a silent Steve and Angel who were hanging around outside, waiting for the others. Eventually Dawn and DeWard, and finally Yesmina joined them.

No one said a word, just looked sadly at one another and then turned and walked silently towards the main house.

They could see activity on the patio in back of the house and started to walk in that direction when they were interrupted by a sound coming from between a parked pickup truck and a non-functioning tractor.

"_Pssstt!"_

They looked, but could not see anything.

"_Pssst!"_ the sound repeated, and now they could see Azalea crouched down between the vehicles, beckoning them to come over.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Angel demanded.

"Aren't you supposed to be with Free?" Yesmina added, as Azalea stood up, looking around to make sure no one else was listening.

"She's making a surprise breakfast for us," Azalea whispered.

"Sooo…" Angel mused. "Guess it's not much of a surprise anymore, is it?"

Azalea glared at him.

"What she's makin's the surprise, _asshole!_" she retorted.

Severus noticed that even though she had put on makeup, her eyes were swollen and red from crying.

And her hands, oddly enough, had patches of red and black on them. She glanced around in a suspicious manner. "Listen! I got an idea! Got it last night! Remembered seeing _these_ in the barn!"

She reached under the decrepit tractor and pulled out a couple of cans of black and rust-red spray paint, and thrust them into the confused hands of Severus, Yesmina, and Angel. She then reached into her bag and retrieved a handful of black markers.

"Where did you get _those_?" Angel demanded.

"Don't you never mind where I got these!" Azalea retorted, shoving the markers into the hands of Steve, Dawn and DeWard, who were just as confused.

"We gotta decorate their _bus_!" Azalea asserted, stamping her foot as if the idea should have been obvious to them.

"I already started," she called over her shoulder, as she led the way to the Swann's bus. "'cuz you all _lazy_, decided to sleep _in_ this mornin'!

They trailed after Azalea because, well, that is what they usually did. However, Severus wondered if grief over the prospect of Free's leaving had unhinged Azalea's mind in some manner.

They emerged from between the other parked vehicles; Azalea kept on marching towards the Swann's bus in a particularly determined manner, but the rest just stopped in their tracks and gawked.

"_What_!?" Azalea demanded in frustration, turning to face them with her hands on her hips. But everyone was speechless.

"_WHAT!?_" Azalea again demanded, this time even more frustrated with them. "What you all gawkin' at?"

"Az…Azalea!" Angel finally stammered. "Are you _CRAZY???_"

Because there, on the side of the bus, was emblazoned the phrase, _"We Love Freedom!"_

Actually, the word "love" was replaced with the symbol of a heart in red paint, but Severus had seen many posters and signs that did that, so he was not unfamiliar with the substitution of the symbol for the word.

As an additional flourish, Azalea had used a peace sign for the "o" in "Freedom".

"What's wrong?" Azalea demanded. Severus was sure that her mind _was_ unhinged.

"What's _wrong?!_" Steve exclaimed. "You just _vandalized_ their bus, is all!"

Azalea looked as if she had been slapped. She then stared at the bus, and then turned back to the others.

"In case y'all hadn't _noticed, _they _already_ had all sorts of shit painted on that bus!" she replied.

This was true. The Swanns had exuberantly decorated the bus with all sorts of symbols and pictures, and phrases much like Severus and the others used to spray on buildings back in New York City. But the largest lettering on the bus had been only about a foot high.

Azalea's handiwork, on the other hand, was easily four feet high and filled the whole side of the bus. She had also added phrases in smaller lettering, proclaiming _"Let Freedom Ring", "Freedom Rules!", "Freedom For All!"_, and she proudly showed them the top of the bus, where she had added a rather prettily lettered _"Freedom At Last! Freedom At Last! Someday We'll All See Freedom At Last!"_

As an additional embellishment, Azalea had drawn flowers, butterflies, and half-moons radiating beams throughout the phrases she had painted.

"You gotta use her full name, 'Freedom', 'cuz it give it two meanings that way!" Azalea exclaimed breathlessly, the last to climb down, a glint in her eyes.

Severus was convinced that she definitely had lost her mind.

However, he was almost as sure that someone in that state could be dangerous, so he said nothing and waited for someone else to make a move.

"What you all _waiting_ for!" Azalea almost screamed, an unnatural brightness in her eyes.

Everyone just looked at each other; Severus suspected that they thought the same way he did.

It was Yesmina who made the first move, shyly stepping forward and tentatively spraying a small flower in one of the few clear spaces on the bus. Azalea gazed on her like a mother duck proud of one of its ducklings taking its first swim. She then turned and glared at the others.

"You two go inside and start decoratin'!" Azalea ordered DeWard and Dawn, which, considering their size, seemed the best idea and the two quickly ran into the bus.

Yesmina was now spraying the phrase, _"For Freedom's Sake"_, by the rear bumper.

Severus, Angel, and Steve just looked at each other, each acutely aware that Azalea was glaring at them with her hands on her hips. The boys just shrugged at each other, then turned towards the bus and started painting phrases on it.

In a short while, they had added, _"Amazing Freedom", "Believe In Freedom," _and _"Freedom Is All Around Us", _to the other side of the bus, and finished off by painting, _"Freedom Bus", _to the hood, with a flourish of peace signs, butterflies, and moonbeams.

Inside the bus many of the phrases on the outside were written, along with, _"Freedom Is Beautiful", "Put A Little Freedom In Your Heart" _(the word _'Heart'_ replaced with the symbol), and Steve's surprising contribution of _"Freedom Is Nothing Else But A Chance To Be Better", _to the ceiling, and his surprisingly rather good renditions of the dove seen on the Woodstock Concert posters.

It was almost 9:30 by the time they had finished. Steve showed them where they could find some turpentine to clean their hands, and after a quick wash-up, they headed towards the house for breakfast. Severus noticed Jack leaning on a post on the front porch, smoking a cigarette; he couldn't be sure, but Severus had a strong suspicion that Jack had watched them all the while they had painted the Swann's bus.

A variety of paper lanterns gaily decorated the trees overhanging the patio, along with strips of bright cloth, and swags of crepe paper streamers. Someone had made a sign stating "Bon Voyage" and another one proclaiming "Good Luck" and had tacked them to the kitchen windows.

The table had a red calico cloth on it and was laden with pitchers of milk, pots of coffee and tea, and bowls of fruit and berries and various homemade breads, muffins, cakes and pies.

Free was helping her mother at the wood cook stove, and smiled broadly at them when they all sat at the table.

"I've made breakfast for you," she announced, as she and her parents placed dishes in front of them which Severus saw contained a toasted scone (which everyone else still insisted on calling an "_English Muffin_") on top of which was a poached egg that was crowned with something Severus did not recognize, but which Free told him was called "salsa".

Along with this were served large squares of cornbread with chopped peppers in it. There was also plain cornbread on the table, along with mountainous quantities of various types of biscuits, muffins, rolls, pies, cakes, cookies and loaves of bread.

As Severus was finishing what he was told were called "_Huervos Rancheros_", his plate was refilled with sausages and biscuits smothered in gravy. After that, he accepted an offer of a grilled ham steak and a slice of something that looked sort of like a pie, which was both custardy and cheesy and full of chopped pepper and bacon. He finished by washing a big helping of apple pie down with a large glass of milk.

Severus noticed that the adults seemed to be lingering at breakfast, even Mr. Temple. It was as if everyone wanted to delay the inevitable parting.

But eventually the last glass of milk was drunk, the last cup of coffee sipped, the last dish washed and dried, and what seemed to be dozens of bags of food given to the Swanns for their journey home. Severus noticed Free biting her lower lip as everyone left the table and slowly walked through the house and out the front door.

"I packed your bag for you," Yesmina told Free as she handed it to her. "There's a gift inside from DeWard and me…"

Free looked surprised, and stopped to look inside her bag. She laughed as she pulled something out.

"It's so you can keep in touch…" Yesmina explained.

As they stepped off of the porch and into the sunshine, Severus could see that Yesmina's gift looked like a box of stationery. Free tugged at her mother.

"Mommy! Look!"

Nierika smiled and then laughed when she saw the gift. She then opened up her own bag, and Free searched in it, pulled out a box, and handed it to Yesmina.

"This is my gift to _you_!" she exclaimed, laughing. Yesmina also laughed when she saw that Free had given her a box of stationery.

"There're stamps inside, too!" Free added. "And my address. And phone number. Here!"

She fished inside her mother's bag once again, and handed boxes of stationery to Azalea, Angel, Steve, Dawn, and Severus himself. She then handed some coloring books and a box of crayons to DeWard, who just stood there with his mouth open.

"I also got pens for you all," and after again searching her mother's bag, pulled out a handful of large, fluffy feathers. She handed a white one with silver sparkles to Yesmina, a Day-Glo orange and pink one to Azalea, a lime green one to Dawn, a robin's egg blue feather to Steve, and black and red one to Angel, and one in shades of violet and deep forest green to Severus. When he looked more closely at it, he realized it was a quill pen.

Well, not really a _quill_ pen. It resembled the one his mother had which she sometimes allowed him to use. However, this one was plastic at the end, and had a ballpoint writing tip.

The girls started to get tears in their eyes and commenced hugging each other and stating how much they were going to miss each other. Angel, Steve, and DeWard all looked uncomfortable. Severus felt that way, and decided to distract himself by studying the stationery Free had given him. It was made of paper in a medium shade of green, with a dark green design across the top. The design was a nondescript scrolling pattern. It could suggest a curling vine. Or a slithering serpent.

Severus rather liked it.

And realized just how much he _was_ going to miss Free.

The adults had slowly shepherded them from the porch through the maze of vehicles, but everyone stopped short once the Swanns' bus came into view.

"_What the fuck?!_" someone exclaimed. Everyone else was speechless.

Free, for the first time since Severus had met her, was nonplussed and at a loss for words as she stared at the bus with her mouth open. She looked at her parents, who both started laughing hysterically. Free then started laughing too, but had tears starting to fill her eyes.

"You guys are, like, _nuts,_ man!" she gasped.

"It was my idea!" Azalea proudly announced. "We decorated the _inside_, too!"

"Oh, can't wait to see _that_!" Isaac laughed, as he went into the bus. His raucous laughter could be clearly heard, and then he and some of the other adults proceeded to load all the gifts of food onto the bus.

It had reached that awkward moment when the parting could no longer be delayed. Everyone stood around nervously, wondering what to say.

"Oh!" Severus exclaimed, reaching into his satchel. "I almost forgot…"

He retrieved the hair band and belt that Priscilla the elf had worked on for him, and clutching them in his fist, he pressed them into Free's fist. He stepped back, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"That's for you," he said. "I made it…"

This wasn't exactly true. However, he figured now was not the time to try to explain that there were a pair of elves from the North Pole camping in the woods adjacent to the Temple farm.

Free held out the headband, and then the belt, a look of amazement on her face. The others gasped in awe.

Severus had to admit that Priscilla did some mighty fine work.

"It's…it's _beautiful,_ man!" Free gasped. Severus looked up, almost smirking with pride.

But that was immediately replaced by abject confusion, as Free burst out crying and buried her face in Severus' gift.

All he could think was that he had made Free cry. First Judy, and now Free. Free, who _never_ cried.

Nierika came over and put her arm around her daughter's shoulders, and Free turned toward her mother and bawled into her breasts.

"I…I'm sorry!" Severus stammered. "I…I thought you'd like…"

Nierika smiled at him and shook her head, which just confused Severus more.

"Id…idzo _pity_" Free sobbed into her mother.

"Yes, it _is_ very pretty, a beautiful gift for my beautiful daughter!" Nierika consoled Free, combing her fingers through her daughter's hair. "Now go say thank you to Severus, who thinks you don't like his gift…"

Free pulled away from her mother, wiped her nose with the back of her hand, and then came over and threw both arms around Severus, pulled him to her so that his nose was pressed into her chest, and she proceeded to cry into the top of his head.

Severus managed to turn his head enough so that he could breathe, and he caught a glimpse of Angel, who just looked back at him and shrugged.

"They're so pretty, Sev!" Free was sobbing, finally letting him go. "No one's ever given me anything so pretty!"

She again grasped him, but instead of crying she smothered him with kisses on his cheeks and forehead and nose and chin and he thought maybe she even got him on his mouth but there were so many kisses he was not sure.

Nierika put her arm around Free's shoulder, and gently guided her towards the bus.

"I'm going to miss you all!" Free called back as she started to climb into the bus.

Everyone started calling out "Bye!" and "Good luck!" and "Safe journey!" as the bus started up, and Isaac carefully navigated turning the bus around. But as he made the final turn to be able to drive out of the farm the bus came to a stop, and Free came running out carrying a large paper sack.

"These are for you all!" she exclaimed, thrust the bag at Severus who was the nearest, and then after giving a quick kiss to all of the children she ran back to the bus.

The last they saw of her, Free was waving frantically out the back window of the bus with both Bub I and Bub II grasped in her other hand. By the time the bus had reached the end of the drive they could hardly see her, but they all continued to wave and call out good wishes. Then the bus turned onto the main road, and the Swanns were gone.

It was only then that Severus realized that his cheeks were wet. He quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and he realized that all of the other children and a few of the adults were doing the same. He looked into the bag that Free had given him, and chuckled softly.

"What is it?" Azalea demanded. Severus retrieved one of what seemed thousands of small green objects from the bag, and popped it into his mouth.

"Wasabi peas," he answered, handing the bag to her as he savored the white-hot explosion in his brain from what was an unusually pungent pea.

Azalea looked into the bag with a slight look of disbelief, and then snorted a semi-laugh as she reached in and grabbed some peas and popped them into her mouth before passing the bag on to the others, who also partook of the peas.

The bag was returned to Azalea, who turned towards the driveway holding the bag aloft.

"Here's to you, Free!" she announced, and Severus suspected that the tears in her eyes were not completely due to the effect of the Wasabi Peas.

They stood around uncomfortably for the next few minutes not knowing what to do. Azalea finally stomped off towards the loft, and after a short pause, Yesmina decided to go after her. DeWard accepted Dawn's invitation to play a board game in her bedroom, and Angel and Steve decided to go swimming.

They invited Severus to join them, but he demurred, stating that he might join up with them later. The two other boys departed, and Severus decided he just wanted to walk.

He went towards the garden behind the patio and sat on the bench in the center, watching and listening to the musical bees.

It seemed to him that their song was not quite as cheerful as the first time he had heard them. He wondered if they could sense his mood, as their music seemed to be a lament of sadness and loneliness.

Severus did not like the feeling of emptiness inside him. He was almost angry over it, angry with himself for having the feeling, and angry at Free for causing it. She was nice and all, but they had only known her a little over a week. Why did he miss her so much?

He missed Lily. The emptiness and loneliness he felt was like the feeling he had when he thought of Lily. However, Free was just a friend, and he would never see her again. Lily was…well, _more_ than a friend, and he would see her again and she would be awed and impressed with everything he would have to tell her about his adventures in America…

He stood up and went out of the garden and down the hill and walked past the fields, most of which were past harvest. He went into the orchard and ate a few blueberries, and slowly turned around to get a good look at the whole farm so that he would never forget it.

They themselves were leaving at the end of the week. There would be another sad parting, as they left Steve and Dawn behind and the whole Temple farm.

Then Azalea would leave them soon after that.

Severus wished there was some spell he could cast to stop time in its tracks; he wished today would never end. He would find a way to contact Lily, he would bring her here, and they could study magick together in this magickal place…

He sighed and then slumped his shoulders. There _was_ no spell that he knew of that could stop time. It would continue on its steady path and soon it would be Friday and they would be leaving.

He climbed the hill leading up to the path that led through the woods to the swimming pond, but he was in no mood for swimming. He decided to go back to the loft, but something at the edge of the woods caught his eye.

It was that strange shadow creature again, keeping pace with him. When he stopped and stared at it, it too stopped and stared back. But when Severus started walking again, so did the creature.

"What do you want?" Severus demanded, after the third time this happened, but the only response seemed to be the creature crouching down on its front quarters while keeping its hindquarters stuck in the air, and then making a sound that to Severus sounded like wind circulating in a hollow cavity.

"Suit yourself," Severus shrugged, turning and starting again to walk towards the loft.

Severus wondered if it was actually going to follow him into the loft, but as he approached the barn, he saw Yesmina coming towards him, and when he glanced to his side, the shadow creature was gone.

"Azalea's asleep," Yesmina announced as she reached him. "She didn't get much sleep last night."

"How is she doing?" Severus asked. Yesmina shrugged.

"She misses Free," she answered. "But she's trying not to show it. I think she's going to be really bossy to us when she wakes up…"

Severus just stared at Yesmina, and then both started laughing.

"I suppose we should make the most of the peace and quiet while we can!" Severus observed, and Yesmina nodded, grinning broadly.

"Do you want to go swimming?" Severus asked, but Yesmina shook her head.

"Maybe later on, after lunch," she mused. "I think Azalea would like to, and it might be good for her, to, you know, do something physical to get her mind off of Free…"

"So what do you want to do?"

"Let's go up to the house, see what Dawn and DeWard are doing…"

So they silently strolled back to the main house, Severus sure that Yesmina was also thinking about their own departure at the end of the week.

Again, almost as if she could read his mind, Yesmina announced, "You know, Friday's Angel's birthday…"

Severus stopped in his tracks. Early on, he had learned everyone's birthday, but with so much happening, he had forgotten that Angel's birthday would be occurring on the very day that they were leaving the Temple farm.

"It's going to be really hard for Angel, he and Steve have become such good friends," Yesmina observed, adding, "But he won't show it like Azalea does…"

Thank Merlin for _that_, Severus thought. However, he had the feeling that Yesmina was expecting something more from him.

"We should do something for Angel," she stated. "Maybe we can do a party for him Thursday night, before we leave."

Severus had little experience with birthday parties, neither with having any or attending any, let alone planning one.

"Uh, yeah," he stammered. "You should talk to Annie and Benjie about it…"

Yesmina nodded and started walking towards the house again; Severus caught up with her, glad that no further mention of birthdays or parties or partings was made.

When they got to the house they found that some more goats' milk soap was being made, so both Severus and Yesmina decided to help. Severus found having to follow specific steps in a specific manner, to stir at just the correct time for the correct amount of time, a very calming and soothing exercise where he could focus his mind on the task at hand and forget everything else.

He gladly memorized the basic recipe and its variations, and was proud when his own suggestions regarding the use of diverse herbs and tinctures were taken seriously and put to the test, with more than satisfactory results.

Soon it was early afternoon and time for lunch; since they'd all had such a large breakfast, lunch was a simple affair of cold cuts and cheese, with a tray of ripe sliced tomatoes and sliced fresh green peppers.

Azalea had taken her braids out and had styled her hair into what she called a "'fro", and was actually looking rather refreshed in a dashiki and sandals and fresh makeup.

She handed an envelope to Janet Temple, and asked if she could mail it for her.

"It's a letter to Free," Azalea announced as she sat down at the table. No one said anything, but as Yesmina had predicted, Azalea was soon sassing and bossing the rest of the children in her normal manner.

After lunch, with the temperature in the low 90's, it was decided that they'd all go swimming. Severus was glad that everyone seemed to be getting over their depression regarding Free's departure, but that quickly ended when, after they had only been swimming a short while, Azalea broke down in tears again.

Even Jill and Libby, who'd come out to swim with their brothers, joined Yesmina, Dawn, and DeWard in trying to comfort Azalea.

The rest of the boys stood around in obvious discomfort, not knowing what to say or do. Dave suggested that they go back to his house to play something called "basketball", but Severus demurred when they asked him.

He had never been very good at sports, and he had no idea what this particular game entailed. He just knew that the chances of him being any good at it were slim, and he was in no mood to be made fun of over it.

He also knew, once the other boys left, that he was in no mood to deal with the outpouring of feminine angst that was occurring pond-side, so without saying a word he put on his clothes, picked up his satchel, and started on his way back to the farm.

However, he did not feel like returning to the loft, and therefore decided he would walk around the pond and explore the woods on the other side, which he surmised would take him out to the farm by the orchard.

It was quite hot along the pond's edge where there was no shade to offer respite from the sun. Severus could hear Azalea's sobs even when he had reached the opposite shore, but when he entered to woods, he was surrounded with coolness and silence.

While he could find no actual path, there _was_ a line of mossy ground that had matted down ferns and broken branches, which showed that others did use it as a way to reach the pond.

Severus went this way for some minutes, expecting that it would lead out to the farm or close by it, but then he realized that it was leading him deeper into the forest.

He looked around and then overhead, realizing that the trees had become much thicker, making it quite dark and impossible to see the sun, hence impossible to tell what direction he was going.

He decided to retrace his steps to go back to the pond, and then take the regular path back to the farm, but after a few minutes, he realized he did not recognize anything in his surroundings, and a slow dread grew within him as he realized that he was lost.

He forced himself to breathe slowly and calm the beating of his heart; panic would not help his situation. He looked up, trying to determine where the sun was in the sky; at was midafternoon, so the sun would be in the west. However, the canopy of branches and leaves was so thick he could barely see bits of blue of the sky beyond -- everything was in shadow on the forest floor, there was no way to determine direction that way.

He sat on a rotting log, and forced his mind to reflect calmly on his situation. He could just remain where he was; someone would surely come looking for him when he did not show up for supper.

However, it was so dark in the forest right now, Severus was sure that it would be like night in here by the suppertime, and he was not at all sure that he wished to be in this forest after dark. He had a strong feeling that this area of the forest did _not_ contain hospitable elves from the North Pole out on a camping holiday.

As much as he strained to hear, no sounds came to him either of anyone at the pond, or from the Temple farm. He realized that there were no sounds of animals, either, although there was the soft chirping of crickets somewhere…it was impossible to tell what direction it came from, it seemed to come from everywhere and yet from nowhere.

What bothered him, now that he thought about it, was that there was no sound of any birds.

Yet almost immediately after the thought had occurred to him, he heard an owl somewhere high overheard. He looked in the direction of the sound but could see nothing in the canopy overhead, but the sound strangely made him feel better.

He stood up, and as he did so, something in the underbrush a few feet away caught his eye.

It was hard to make out in the darkness, but he recognized the strange shadow creature that had been trailing after him for days. The creature just stared at him without moving.

"I don't suppose _you_ can offer me any help!" Severus observed, to which the creature made the same strange, hollow wind sound it had made earlier. It then moved off in a particular direction, stopping to look back at Severus and make the same sound again.

Severus decided that following the creature was as good an idea as any other one available at the moment, so without saying a word he picked up his satchel and walked towards the creature, who turned without a sound and loped (Severus assumed its movement could be called "loping") in a direction that to Severus seemed to take them deeper into the woods.

He supposed that he should be frightened, but the blanket of silence in the forest also quieted his own heart and mind. Perhaps this was meant to be a day of partings, perhaps he was meant to disappear into this forest and emerge into a new adventure somewhere else. Perhaps this creature was somehow leading him home.

But instead of emerging into the sunlight of the playground near Lily's house, or even into the shadow of the smokestacks by his own home, the creature led him into clearing and then stopped as if sniffing the air.

While the area was devoid of trees it was covered with plush, green moss and thick with ferns of various shapes and sizes. The forest was thick surrounding this area, and the air was thick, dark, and dank. Severus almost felt like he was under water rather than in a forest clearing.

He looked at the creature, but for once it seemed to be ignoring him, its attention focused on the other side of the clearing. Severus felt sure that something was there, or that the creature expected something to appear shortly. He peered into the darkness, but could see nothing.

The shadow creature turned and came to his side, still staring at something beyond the clearing. Severus had the sensation that it was leaning against his leg, but he could not be sure -- but his leg felt both cool and warm where the creature stood, and he felt little pricks of electricity like when his foot fell asleep.

He slowly retrieved his wand from his satchel; while the creature seemed to be more nervous than afraid, Severus felt that he should be prepared for whatever was coming.

Not that he was sure what to do; his mother had never let him practice wand magick with her own wand -- she had said that there would be time enough for that when he went away to Hogwarts.

There was a sound ahead in the darkness -- Severus could not make out whether it was the rustling of dried leaves on the forest floor, or some sort of whisper. However, he was sure that the shadow creature _was_ leaning harder into his leg.

"_Luminos!_" he whispered hoarsely, pointing the tip ahead in hopes of casting light on whatever it was that was there.

However, nothing happened.

Severus stared at his wand in dismay, and then clearly heard the noise of something moving towards them.

"_LUMINOS!_" he cried out, trying not to panic.

To his relief (and more than a modicum of surprise), the tip glowed a bright bluish-white, illuminating the clearing.

He had the sense that the shadow creature was looking up at him, but he paid it no attention, because the light from his wand had revealed the most amazing sight.

Surrounding him on the edge of the clearing were the strangest creatures he had ever seen, and he would read _all_ of his mother's books on magickal creatures and monsters.

They were men…at least, from the torso up. Their skin was an odd color that Severus could only describe as bronze, but in the literal sense, like bronze metal. However, they also had a glow (perhaps due to the light from his wand) that suggested gold.

The hair on their heads was black and straight, not too unlike Severus' own. Some had short hair, some long and loose, others wore braids.

However, it was their bodies below their torso that amazed Severus; their legs were like that of a deer or an elk. What was even odder is that some were only two-legged, like fauns, while others were four-legged, like centaurs.

Moreover, while they obviously had a language which they murmured amongst themselves, Severus had a strong sense that these creatures wore more feral than civilized.

They seemed as surprised at seeing him as he was in them, and he noticed that they took a keen interest in the fact that the shadow creature was by his side.

After what he took to be an energetic discussion amongst the creatures, one of them tentatively stepped into the clearing and stopped a few feet away from Severus.

He looked to be young, 14 or 15 if he was human, and he had two legs covered in tan and white fur, and hooves for feet. Even though the creature's countenance was somewhat haughty, Severus could see a short tail flicking nervously behind it.

"What manner of being are you?" it demanded, in a somewhat stilted fashion.

Severus realized that not only were these creatures surprised to see him, but that they found him as strange as he found them.

"I'm a boy," Severus answered, for want of anything better to answer. There were guttural murmurings from the other creatures, and one with grey streaks in his hair barked something in their own language to the creature speaking to Severus.

"You are…a _man creature_?" it asked.

"Yes."

The creature looked from Severus' face to his wand, and then down at the shadow creature, who was now laying flat with its head on the ground, as if in abeyance to this creature.

"You…you are wizardkind?" the faun-like creature asked, nodding his head towards Severus' wand.

"Yes…yes, I _am_ a wizard."

The faun-like creature gazed at him critically, and then called over his shoulder in his own language to the grey-haired creature. Whatever the younger one said, the older creature did not seem overly pleased by it, and grumbled something back to the younger creature.

"What mischief do you bring, trespassing in our forest?" the younger creature demanded of Severus.

Severus was beginning to feel more than somewhat annoyed.

"I do not bring _any_ mischief!" he retorted. "And I was _not_ trespassing, as far as I know this is a public forest! I was at the pond, and just wanted to go home a more private way than the road, but I got lost! _This_ thing here…"

Severus gestured to the shadow creature at his feet.

"…showed up and seemed to be leading me, I had hoped _out_ of the forest!"

Severus stuck the illuminated tip of his wand into the faun-like creature's face.

"If you are so concerned about trespassers, then I suggest that you go tell the elves that are camping in the woods up the road to leave!"

The creature looked surprised, and muttured something to the others, who responded with guttural murmurings.

"What is your name, man creature?" the young creature asked, much to Severus' surprise.

"Severus," he answered. "Severus Snape."

"You are of the wizardkind that lately came to this area?"

"Uhhh…noooo…," Severus mused, trying to determine just what this creature was asking. Perhaps he meant the fair that was held this weekend -- Elvis and Priscilla had hinted that magickal people would be attending.

"Where are your sire and your dam?" the creature asked. "Where is your herd?"

"If you are referring to my mother and father, they are back in Spinners End, in England," Severus answered.

"Angle Land?" the creature asked, a puzzled look on his face.

"Across the ocean," Severus answered. "The Atlantic Ocean."

The faun-like creature still looked confused.

"It's to the east of here…in the direction where the sun rises."

The creature raised its eyebrows, and said something in his language to the others. The grey-haired creature muttured something that sounded like a question.

"The elder wishes to know, how it is that you are here, and your sire and dam are so far away?"

Severus sighed.

"I'm not sure," he answered, for some reason feeling somewhat ashamed. "It was an accident. I was just sweeping with a normal broom, but then suddenly it started to fly, and I ended up on a boat that took me to a city called New York where I met some kids and we ran away and were taken in by Annie and Benjie who took us to this concert at a place called Woodstock and we're on our way to some place called New Mexico but we stopped here first because the Temples invited us…"

He had no idea why he had felt compelled to spill everything out in that manner.

"So you have a new herd?" the creature asked. Severus looked up at him in surprise.

"Yes," he answered, "when you put it in those terms, I suppose I do…"

"Where is it you say your herd is staying?"

"At the Temples' farm, it's right next to these woods…"

The creature gave him a cryptic look, and then said something to the other creatures. Even though it was in their own language, Severus could clearly make out the mention of the name "Temple". This seemed to impress the others, and even the grey-haired elder lost his gruffness. He made a statement to the young creature in front of Severus, and then he and the other creatures turned and disappeared into the forest, barely making a sound.

"Manisar the Elder has instructed that I remove you from our forest," the young creature stated, abruptly turning and walking away. Severus watched his retreating back, then quickly stuffed his wand into his satchel and ran to catch up. The shadow creature kept to his side.

"It is not often the Shadow Ones keep the company of man creatures," the faun-like creature observed without looking at Severus. "But it is young, and looking for a pack to join."

Severus had to almost run to keep up with the creature.

"Who _are_ you?" he demanded, trying to catch his breath. "_What_ are you?"

The creature stopped and stared at him blankly.

"Your sire and dam do not teach you these things?" it asked. "Your herd does not tell you?"

"No, my mother has many books on various creatures of the magickal world, but there was never anything like _you_ in it…"

"We are not of your world," the creature answered, resuming his trot. "My name is Karwan, of the Gluscabi herd. "Our kind is older than your kind. We were created by Na'api as watchers…guardians of Na'api's creations…"

Karwan stopped and turned to Severus.

"Then Na'api created man creatures," he stated. "At first, your herds were small, and you lived in harmony with Na'api. But then your herds got larger and larger, and man creatures forgot Na'api and the harmony of all things. Man creatures live in herds too large to be harmony even with themselves, and they hurt Na'api…"

Karwan started trotting again, and Severus tried hard to keep up with him. Soon the forest was not so dark, and suddenly he found himself at the edge of the woods, at the back end of the Temple farm.

Karwan stopped at the edge of the forest and turned to Severus.

"Severus Snape, man creature and wizardkind, know this," Karwan stated, gazing at the Temples' fields and orchards. "These man creatures are different. They know the harmony of Na'api. If they continue on the path they have chosen, Na'api will be pleased with them. That is why we are here, we are the guardians and what some say _devas_ of this land. We honor these man creatures called 'Temple" because they honor us and they honor Na'api…"

Severus just gazed at the farm, trying to decipher what Karwan was saying.

"How do you know English, Karwan, and the others of your kind do not?"

Karwan looked down at him, and Severus was surprised to see that he looked embarrassed.

"Sometimes I come to the edge of the forest and listen to the boxes that sing and talk that the young ones of the man herds have," he admitted, shyly smiling and looking down as he scratched one hoof in the dirt. "When they are at the pond, when they swim in summer or skate in winter, they bring boxes that talk and sing, and I stay hidden, listening…"

Severus smiled. He realized that Karwan was actually lonely. He turned to Karwan and stuck out his right hand.

"Thank you, Karwan," he stated. "Thank you for showing me the way out."

Karwan just stared at his hand.

"It is a custom of man creatures to shake hands when meeting and departing, to show good will," Severus explained. Karwan's expression displayed that he did not understand this at all, but he good-naturedly took Severus' hand, and Severus gave him a hearty handshake.

Severus took a step out of the forest, and then turned back to Karwan, who was already retreating back into the forest.

"My herd is leaving in a few days," Severus called out. Karwan turned and looked at him quizzically.

"The people I'm with -- the kids I met and Annie and Benjie, we're all leaving at the end of the week. We're not going to be living here with the Temples…"

Karwan looked surprised.

"I am sorry to hear that, Severus Snape," he answered. "You would find harmony with Na'api here, I think."

And with that, Karwan turned and disappeared into the forest.

But Severus was not alone. As he made his way through the orchard and up the hill to the barn with Steve's loft, the shadow creature kept pace with him, and only turned off into the woods when Severus went into the barn.

Where he was met by the others who wondered where he had gone, and by an irate Azalea who punched him in the shoulder for scaring her.

"We don't know if you run away or kidnapped or murdered or…or…" Azalea shouted at him, before clasping him to her chest and bawling onto the top of his head.

"I tried to take a short cut back by going through the woods at the back of pond," Severus explained as his hair got wetter.

"No one ever goes there!" Steve exclaimed. "It's too thick and dark, people get lost in those woods all the time!"

"Yes, well, I think I did, but then I wasn't, and here I am, so everything is all right," he rambled, trying to extricate himself from Azalea's grasp. "I'm hungry, when is supper?"

Azalea punched him again.

"You don't 'serve no supper, not for scarin' us like that!" she pouted.

But Steve and Dawn observed that supper was probably at that moment being served, so Severus gratefully joined the others who quickly left the barn. He didn't even mind so much that Azalea kept nagging him all the way to the house -- at least she was no longer crying.

After a supper of hamburgers and hotdogs and macaroni salad, they eagerly accepted bags of cookies and muffins left over from breakfast and took them back to the loft.

Dawn and DeWard turned on the TV in one corner and then continued the game of Chutes 'n' Ladders that they had started earlier in the day. Azalea and Yesmina sat in another corner, practicing their knitting and crocheting.

Steve put a record on the player, and then he and Angel decided to do some hay jumping.

_When the White Eagle of the North  
__Is flying overhead  
__And the browns, reds and golds of Autumn  
__Lie in the gutter, dead_

_Remember then, that summer birds  
__With wings of fire, flaying  
__Came to witness Spring's new hope  
__Born of leaves decaying_

Severus was tired, so he decided to go to the farthest corner where it was dark, and leaning against a bale of hay, he closed his eyes and thought about what had happened that day.

_Just as new life will come from death  
__Love will come at leisure  
__Love of love, love of life  
__And giving without measure _

_Gives in return a wonderous yearn  
__Of a promise almost seen  
__Live hand-in-hand  
__And together we'll stand  
__On the threshold of a dream._

He was asleep by the time the song ended, and the others wondered what dreams caused him to smile in such a manner.

* * *

_When the White Eagle of the North  
__Is flying overhead  
__And the browns, reds and golds of Autumn  
__Lie in the gutter, dead_

_Remember then, that summer birds  
__With wings of fire, flaying  
__Came to witness Spring's new hope  
__Born of leaves decaying_

_Just as new life will come from death  
__Love will come at leisure  
__Love of love, love of life  
__And giving without measure _

_Gives in return a wonderous yearn  
__Of a promise almost seen  
__Live hand-in-hand  
__And together we'll stand  
__On the threshold of a dream._

**THE DREAM  
**_On the Threshold of a Dream  
_The Moody Blues  
1969


	21. Ch 19 Have You Heard Aug26Aug27'69

**CHAPTER 19 -- Have You Heard?  
**August 26-27, 1969

* * *

_Later in the chapter, there is a discussion between Severus, Azalea, and Yesmina over the cost of buying an item._

_To put the cost into perspective, here are some prices of items in 1969:_

_1st-class postage stamp: $0.06  
One gallon regular gas: $0.35  
One dozen eggs: $0.62  
One gallon of milk: $1.10  
Average monthly rent: $135.00_

* * *

Tuesday morning dawned oppressively hot and humid, and it was already in the 80s as the children shuffled slowly to breakfast. It was too hot to even talk, although Severus noticed Yesmina pulled Steve behind the rest of them and was whispering something into his ear.

No one was in the mood to eat anything hot on this hot morning, so breakfast consisted of day-old muffins, cereal, fruit, and ice-cold milk.

By the time they had finished eating and had helped to clean up, the temperature had broken 90, and to Severus the air felt thick enough to swim through. He therefore had no objection to the suggestion that they all go swimming, and they only paused long enough to pack a picnic lunch, collect towels, and for the girls to put swimsuits on under their clothes.

Dawn brought along her transistor radio that she had received as a gift on her birthday, and as they reached the edge of the pond, the weather forecast at the end of the 10 o'clock news broadcast stated that the temperature was currently 96 degrees and would most likely reach the low 100's by midafternoon, with a 50 percent chance of a thunderstorm by evening.

The water was cool and refreshing, and soon the pond was crowded with other children who lived in the area, and a good many adults who were part of the Hog Farm entourage.

Severus would periodically pause to look over to the woods at the far side of the pond, and once he saw some movement in the shadows, which made him wonder if Karwan was watching and listening to them.

Shortly before noon, they all got out of the pond and gathered on the blankets Steve had brought along, being joined not only by Jay and Libby, Rusty and Jill, and Dave, but also by the Gauchons who'd brought Andy and April to play in the shallow water at the edge of the pond. Even Annie and Benjie had come with Judy, as most everyone in the area decided that just sitting in the shade at the edge of the pond was cooler than staying on the farm.

As Severus searched in the cooler, trying to decide whether he wanted a peanut butter and jam sandwich on whole oat bread, or a boiled egg and cheese sandwich on whole wheat, the noon forecast on the radio stated that it was now 101 degrees with a high of 108 expected, with a 50 percent chance of a thunderstorm by evening.

Severus decided on a peanut butter and jam sandwich, followed by a cold orange and a can of what Steve and Dawn called "pop", but which Azalea insisted was "soda". Severus let them argue about the name as he slowly sipped a flavor called "Birch Beer".

He leaned against the trunk of the tree they were under, Annie by his side, holding Judy in her lap. Severus was surprised when Judy smiled at him and grabbed his finger. He smiled as Judy tightened her grip, and he closed his eyes and listened to the music on the radio and the murmur of voices and the buzz of insects…

He must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew the sun was further in the west rather than directly overhead. Annie was lying on the blanket asleep, a sleeping Judy in the crook of her arm, as Benjie now sat in approximately the same place as his wife had been sitting.

Severus rubbed his eyes and looked out at the pond, and saw that the rest of the kids were back in the water.

"What time is it?" Severus asked Benjie.

"Almost two-fifteen," he answered, looking at his watch. Severus was surprised that he had slept so long, but surmised that it must be due to the heat and humidity.

"Going back in?" Benjie asked, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back against the tree, closing his eyes.

"I don't know…maybe…"

Benjie just grunted and then seemed to doze off himself.

As appealing as the cool water was, Severus was not really in the mood to spend the rest of day swimming. In the end, he opened a can of pineapple-flavored soda or pop or whatever it was called, slung his satchel over his shoulder, and made his way down the path back to the farm, turning off at the path that led into the clearing in the woods where he had met Elvis and Priscilla the other day.

However, while he could see evidence of the elves having been there, and perhaps still camping there, he could not find any evidence of the elves themselves, including their caravan. Severus wondered if they had already left, or had just hidden their caravan and other belongings when they were not around.

He sat down on one of the logs that was in shade, took a sip of soda before carefully placing the can on the ground, and took his wand out of his satchel.

Even though his mother had told him that there would be time enough to learn wand magick when he went to Hogwarts, he had still memorized all the spells in his mother's copy of _Wand Magick for Beginners. _He pointed the wand at the can of pineapple soda.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!"_ he shouted. Nothing happened.

He glared at the can, and then at the wand in his hand. He still was not quite certain as to its effectiveness, he was not even sure that it really _was_ a magick wand.

Perhaps the problem was in the pronunciation of the spell. The book _had_ shown how to pronounce the spells correctly, but he had not paid that close attention at the time.

"_WingGARDium Leviosa!"_ he again shouted, aiming the wand at the soda can.

He saw the can shake back and forth. He slowly raised his wand, the soda can slowly rising in response.

Severus grinned broadly, as he slowly moved his hand to the right and to the left, the can following where the wand pointed.

He lowered the can to the ground, and then went over and sat on the log and raised the can to his lips, taking a long quaff. He then laughed. He could not help but laugh.

He was not sure where it had come from, but the young Shadow Creature was suddenly at his side. Severus got the feeling that it was very curious about him.

He pointed his wand at another log in the circle.

"_WingGARDium Leviosa!"_ Severus commanded, raising the heavy log with his wand, flipping it over in a circle before lowering it to the ground again.

Wait until Lily saw _this!_

Lily. He had not realized how much he missed her until this moment.

He remembered another spell in _Wand Magick for Beginners_. He had actually wanted to try it shortly after meeting Lily, but it would have meant "borrowing" his mother's wand, which she not only kept locked away, but under protective charms from the prying curiosity of little boys.

Severus held his wand out at arm's length.

"_Orchideus!"_

Once again, nothing happened. He had pronounced the spell with the accent on the second syllable, but obviously that was incorrect.

"_ORchideus!"_

Nothing.

"_OrchiDEus!"_

A bouquet of flowers sprung out from the end of his wand, which he easily plucked from the end.

He stared at them, grinning with satisfaction. They did not open and close like Lily could make flowers do, but he was sure that when he performed the spell in front of her and presented her with the bouquet, she would be both pleased with the gift and impressed by his prowess at magick.

He would be the first wizard to present her with a magickal bouquet produced via wand.

Hopefully he would be the _only_ wizard to give her such a gift. Suddenly he felt very lonely and insecure. He would have to get back home soon.

He heard a sound in the woods nearby, and only then realized that the Shadow Creature had gone.

"Severus Snape, man creature and wizardkind!"

Severus turned around, and saw Karwan and two other _devas_ at the edge of the woods. He stood up and came over to them.

"Hello," he offered, shoving his wand into his back pocket.

"Severus Snape," Karwan continued, a worried look on his face. "We have come here to give you warning." Severus' brow furrowed.

"Warning?" Severus replied. "What sort of warning?"

"You must tell your herd to leave the watering hole and return home quickly."

"What?"

"Severus Snape, there is no time to be stupid!"

Severus was rather taken back by Karwan's rudeness, but Karwan continued.

"The guardian man creatures call Bird of Thunder is on the move. Na'api is angry, Her anger builds, man creatures will see Na'api's anger tonight. We will protect the herd known as Temple, and all the herds that take shelter there, but you _must_ take shelter! Tell your man-herds this warning!"

The other two _devas_ said something in their own language, and before Severus could say anything else all three _devas_ had disappeared into the woods.

"That was rather sudden," Severus sullenly grumbled. However, as he turned to go back to the log where his soda and satchel sat, a shadow crossed the clearing as a terrible screech and a sound like thunder filled the air, and he saw the Thunderbird from the other day cross the sky.

He could here Jackson barking frantically somewhere on the farm; in fact, not only Jackson, but he could make out dogs suddenly barking in the distance all around him, and he remembered what Elvis had said about the Thunderbird presaging a bad storm. Or disaster.

_That_ must be what Karwan was trying to tell him. A storm was on its way, a really bad one, if it warranted a warning from the _devas._

Severus put his wand into the satchel and quickly finished the can of soda. He was going to just toss the can, but something stopped him. He suddenly felt guilty about just casually tossing the can. After all, Elvis and Priscilla had not left any garbage lying around, and something told Severus that the _devas_ would not be happy with him leaving trash behind.

He stuffed the empty can into his bag, and then rushed back to the pond.

It was very hot and humid. Severus could easily believe that the temperature had reached the predicted 108 degrees Fahrenheit.

And it was still very sunny. He suddenly felt very foolish over the idea of telling everyone that they would have to all go home because a storm was on its way.

As it was, it seemed as if half the people had already gone home. Severus realized that it was late in the afternoon, and surmised that they had left to go home for supper.

Annie was sitting at the water's edge, half in the water, holding Judy up by the arms and letting her legs dangle in the cool water. April and Andrew sat next to her in the water, cupping water in their hands and splashing Judy with water. Both mother and daughter laughed each time.

Everyone else was actually out of the water at this time. Benjie still seemed to be asleep, and all the boys seemed to have follow suit.

The girls on the other hand were all working on each other's hair and experimenting with eye coloring and lip-gloss.

"Where you been at?" Azalea demanded as Severus came up to them.

"We all have to go home right now," Severus answered, ignoring Azalea's question. One of Benjie's eyes opened, but no one else stirred.

"It's too hot to go back," Azalea announced, turning back to finish painting Libby's eyelids what seemed to Severus to be a particularly hideous shade of turquoise.

"There is a bad storm coming. We need to get back now."

Angel and Steve opened their eyes and stared at Severus. Steve then sat up and looked at the sky. The very sunny sky.

"He's right," Steve finally stated, much to Severus' surprise. Steve smiled at Severus.

"You learned how to read storm signs since Woodstock," Steve announced. Angel looked at the sky, seemingly not convinced of Severus' forecast.

"It's too sunny," Azalea announced authoritatively.

But at that moment, the 4 o'clock news broadcast on Dawn's radio ended with the weather forecaster announcing that it was currently 106 degrees with an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms arriving after 6 pm.

"You see," Steve stated, standing up and starting to gather up the blankets. "Severus is right."

Everyone slowly packed up the rest of their belongings. Jay and Libby left for their own home, and Dave left with Rusty and Jill.

While the path back to the farm was shaded, the air was hot and very still, so it was not a comfortable walk, and they went slowly, Yesmina helping to carry a very sleepy and cranky April and Leon Gauchon giving his son a piggyback ride as Andy had announced that it was too hot to walk.

Azalea did not say much, just kept turning and glaring at Severus, and even Angel seemed a little annoyed with him.

But Steve had actually rushed on ahead, and as Dawn carried her radio, which was still on, the broadcast was interrupted for a breaking report, the announcer stating that a tornado had occurred in some town to the west. The station then went back to playing music.

Severus just gave Azalea a smug look, but Leon asked Benjie if he would carry Andy for him, and when Benjie had gotten Andy onto his back Leon, looking very worried, gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek, stating, "See you back on the farm!"

He then ran up the path, sweating in the heat. Annie and Benjie gave Corrine a questioning look.

"We probably _are _in for a bad storm," Corrine stated. To Severus, it looked like she was trying to not look frightened, but he could see the look of concern on her face.

Azalea must have noticed it too, because she suddenly became very quiet and no longer gave Severus dirty looks.

By the time they got back to the farm, Severus could see that not only the cows were being brought in from the fields, but also that the pigs were being brought inside their barn, and the chickens were also being locked in. Then they heard a low roll of thunder.

Corrine took April from Yesmina and looking at Dawn, stated, "You better get Steve's loft locked down."

She and the Silversteins then left for the farmhouse.

"Come on!" Dawn ordered, running towards the barn with the loft. The others just stood and stared at each other, but then a strong wind started blowing and there was another roll of thunder -- louder this time -- and they realized that what had been a sunny sky was now a sickly shade of green.

They ran into the barn. Dawn was already up in the loft.

"Come on!" she shouted down at them. "I need help with this door!"

They scrambled up the steps, and realized that Dawn was referring to the hayloft door. Azalea, Angel, Severus and Dawn all helped to push the door shut as the wind turned into a gale, and Dawn showed them the long piece of wood that needed to be lifted into the latches to lock the door. Azalea, being the tallest, was the only one who could actually reach the latches, but Angel, Severus and Dawn helped her to lift the heavy wood.

"What else?" Azalea asked, somewhat out of breath and wiping sweat from her forehead.

"We need to get back downstairs and watch out the window," Dawn explained, starting to climb back down the ladder without waiting for the others.

Again, they all looked at each other.

"Watch out the window for what?" Azalea whispered, as thunder cracked and they could see lightening through the windows. Everyone else just shrugged.

"Come _on!"_ they heard Dawn cry out from below.

"Watch out the window for what?" Azalea shouted down to her.

"For a twister," Dawn answered. "A tornado. There's a storm cellar in here, if we see a twister we need to get in it as quick as possible!"

They stared at each other. No one moved. Severus did not know if they were all frozen in fear, or like him were just very confused.

"Get down here _now!"_ Dawn demanded, as the wind suddenly grew much more violent, the sky darkened, and thunder and lightening was now occurring almost nonstop.

Severus decided that he was now more afraid than confused. Very, _very_ afraid!

They all ran for the ladder at the same time, causing confusion as they all tried to get on it at once. But surprisingly Azalea took charge, making sure DeWard went down first, followed by Yesmina (who had made sure to grab her bag with the medicine in it that Severus had made her).

There was then an argument about who should be next. Again, surprisingly Azalea did not want to go first…she argued that as the oldest, she should go last, meaning that Severus should go next. But Severus did not want to seem a coward, and Angel made a convincing argument that ladies should go before gentlemen, which then resulted in a response from Azalea that it was about time Angel recognized that she was a lady, but what made him think he was a gentleman?

Thunder cracked so loudly that it shook the barn.

"_Goddammit will you all just get down here!?"_

This brought the argument upstairs to an immediate halt. No one had ever heard Dawn swear like that before. They then realized that the barn was creaking.

Severus decided that since he was the youngest of those remaining upstairs, and at that moment he did not care whether Azalea or Angel considered him a gentleman, he hopped onto the ladder and scrambled down as quickly as he could, Azalea's butt almost in his face as she scrambled down right after him. Angel was immediately after Azalea.

Dawn was glaring at them when they got to the bottom. "City kids!" she mumbled, going over to one of the windows at the front of the barn.

Yesmina and DeWard were clutching each other in terror. Severus realized that it was very, _very_ dark both inside the barn and outside; in fact, it was so dark outside that it almost seemed as if it were night.

He went over to look out the same window as Dawn, with Azalea and Angel following him. Outside the window it was raining, but the wind was making it fall sideways instead of down. When lightening occurred they could see the trees being violently lashed by the wind, and Severus wondered if they would all be uprooted.

Suddenly, _something_ came flying at the barn, and they could hear it bang loudly on the side wall.

"That's it!" Dawn announced. "Time to get into the storm cellar!"

She turned and quickly went to the opposite corner of the barn. It was too dark to see what she was doing, but they heard a loud creak as she lifted something heavy from the floor.

Severus, Azalea and Angel just stood by the window, looking at each other and then at Yesmina and DeWard, who were still standing in the middle of the barn clutching each other.

Something else hit the building, and without further prodding, they all turned and came over to where Dawn was standing. She had gotten a flashlight from somewhere, and was shining it into a hole in the ground.

"We've gotta get down there," she announced. They peered cautiously past the door Dawn was holding up; there were a few cinderblock steps leading down into what Severus thought could only be described as a hole in the ground.

"I ain't goin' down that thing!" Azalea protested. "Look like a grave!"

"You might need a grave if you _don't_ get down there!" Dawn yelled at her over the thunder. Azalea was taken up short by Dawn's attitude. Rarely did anyone other than Angel stand up to her.

The barn was creaking badly at this point, and unknown objects continued to batter the sides of the building.

Azalea, without saying a word, climbed down the steps and then turned to face Yesmina, holding her arms up.

"Give me DeWard," she stated, but when DeWard heard this, he started to cry hysterically.

Angel then climbed down the steps and held his own arms up towards DeWard.

"Come on, DeWard my man!" he said. "See, it ain't so bad!"

However, DeWard, unconvinced, frantically scrambled out of Yesmina's grasp and ran into the middle of the barn.

"Get down here, Yesmina," Angel instructed. "He'll come if you're here."

Yesmina did not look convinced, and Severus could see tears in her eyes when she glanced at him, but she timidly climbed down the stairs, turning towards DeWard when she was halfway down.

"Come here, DeWard," she called out. "Keep me company!"

Yesmina continued down the steps, calling out to DeWard when she reached bottom. But this only upset DeWard more, and all the coaxing from Azalea, Angel and Yesmina only made him more terrified.

"DeWard!" Dawn ordered. "Get over here!"

However, DeWard would not be swayed. Dawn glared at Severus, and then ordered Yesmina to stay where she was when Yesmina started back up the steps.

Severus sighed and went over to DeWard. He started to sing the spell he had sung to DeWard back in June, when they were in Central Park and Azalea had decided that they should all run away from home.

It seemed like a lifetime ago now.

But not only did the spell work its effect on DeWard, who stared mesmerized at Severus; but it seemed to work on the storm itself, as suddenly the wind died down and it got noticeably lighter outside.

Dawn sighed loudly.

"All clear," she announced. "Storm's passed by…"

Yesmina, Angel and Azalea came back up from the storm cellar. Dawn slammed the door shut and then turned off the flashlight, hanging it on a hook on a post close to the storm cellar door.

"Next time you all better move a lot more quick than that!" she admonished. "If we'd really gotten a twister, you'd all be dead and me with you because I have to be mother hen to all you chicken asses!"

Dawn started climbing up the ladder, but stopped part of the way up, turning back to them.

"Well, don't just stand there, come up here and help me get these doors open again! Then we gotta go see what damage there is!"

Perhaps because climbing the ladder to the loft was a more agreeable prospect than going down steps into a grave-like hole, they needed no further prodding to come help Dawn open the loft doors.

When they had done so, they had a good view of what the storm had done to the farm. It actually looked relatively unscathed. Most of the remaining corn had been blown down, and Dawn explained that probably any of the bushy vegetables like the tomatoes and peppers were probably hit hard. But all the trees, including those in the orchard, were still standing, although Severus could see many branches that had been torn off and scattered.

"Let's go up to the house," Dawn suggested, and no one objected.

Everyone seemed to be gathering at the farmhouse to touch base and make sure that everyone was all right. Severus thought that many of the Hog Farm Commune looked like they had actually been outside throughout the storm, and indeed what comments he could hear them making reinforced this viewpoint, as many seemed to think the storm was "Like, wild, man!", and one of the commune women observed that it was "A groovy high!"

And when the sun broke through the clouds in the west, creating a rainbow over the devastated corn field to the east of the farmhouse, there was more than one exclamation of "Far out!"

However, none of the actual denizens of the Temple Farm seemed to share that viewpoint. Steve and Dawn's father stated that it was a good thing that they had gotten all the animals locked down when they did, but that they'd have to go out after supper to assess what actual damages they may have incurred.

One of the casualties was the aerial antenna on top of the house; Pat and Jack were working together to get it placed back onto the roof so that they could turn on the evening news and find out what damages had occurred in the county.

There actually wasn't any electricity available, but the farm had a generator, and Tom Temple soon had it up and running.

The children were shepherded into the kitchen for a quick supper of cold cuts and salad. Annie reached over to Severus, pulling him to her and giving him a tight hug and a kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you for warning us, Sev!" she exclaimed. "Imagine if we'd gotten caught in that storm out at the pond!"

Severus just smiled and took his place at the table, glancing over at Azalea, but she did not look up from her plate. Yesmina didn't say anything, either, but she glanced from Azalea to Severus and then down at her own plate.

He noticed that neither girl was eating much food; they were mostly just pushing bits around on their plates and only taking an occasional bite. Angel didn't seem as picky about his food, but Severus could see that he too was not eating much.

Steve and Dawn, on the other hand, were eating as if nothing had happened, and strangely enough, DeWard was also gobbling his dinner. Severus sort of admired DeWard's ability to rebound from things that upset him, and so Severus decided to follow his example and have a hearty supper, also.

After supper, they caught the tail end of the local news broadcast on TV, as Pat and Jack had found and successfully reinstalled the antenna. According to the report, actual tornados had torn through the areas surrounding the Temple farm, and everyone commented on how lucky they were to have been so miraculously spared.

Steve then led them on a reconnaissance of the farm, gathering up the debris the storm had left behind. As Dawn had predicted, the corn had been flattened, as had crops like tomatoes and peppers, but their crops could still be salvaged if done quickly over the next few days. Most of the other crops had already been harvested, and the winter wheat had not been planted yet, so all in all the farm had weathered the storm pretty well, especially considering the damage that had occurred all around them.

By the time they finished it was already dark, so Steve got a kerosene lantern from his father, Dawn retrieved the flashlight from by the storm cellar, and they all silently climbed the ladder up to the loft and just as silently went to bed.

Dawn turned off the flashlight and Steve blew out the lantern.

"Don't you do 'nother storm like that while we still here!" Azalea ordered in the darkness. Severus heard Dawn moan softly and Steve snort.

"Not much anyone can do about it, Princess!" Steve chuckled. It was now Azalea's turn to snort.

If there were any more arguments that evening they were quiet ones, as Severus was soon fast asleep and did not wake up until the next morning.

* * *

"Gimme some money!"

"No."

"You got money. I see Jack give you lotsa money after breakfast!"

"So?"

"_Gimme some!_"

"No."

It was late morning of the next day, Wednesday. Electricity had been restored to the farm, and it had been announced at breakfast that Steve and Dawn had to make a trip to the local coop to get school clothes and supplies, as school was starting for them the following Tuesday. It was decided to make an outing of it, the Silversteins following behind Jan Temple.

Just before they left Jack had come up to Severus and handed him a large roll of American money.

"What is this?" Severus asked.

"Your share of the clothes that sold this past weekend," Jack explained. Severus looked at the money quizzically, and then just as quizzically looked up at Jack.

"It was _your_ design and _your_ ideas that made it sell so well," Jack explained. "I convinced them that you deserved a certain percentage of the profits…"

Severus wasn't sure how the whole thing worked, but he knew he liked the idea of being paid money just for thinking of something and suggesting it, and he found it amusing that the shirt that had been the source of so much ridicule back home was considered so…well, _profitable_ on this side of the ocean.

Moreover, he was amazed to learn from Jack that $650 had been made in sales of the various outfits based on his smock's design. Jack had apparently argued with whomever needed arguing with that Severus deserved to be paid 20 percent of the profits, but in the end they had compromised at 15 percent, and so now Severus had a roll of twenty $5 bills in his front jeans pocket.

And Azalea was demanding some of it.

"It's not for Azalea, Sev," Yesmina explained. "It's for Angel's birthday gift."

"Yeah," Azalea agreed. "We need to get Angel a gift!"

"_You_ need to get him a gift," Severus countered. "I've already gotten him his gift."

"Wotchoo git him!" Azalea demanded suspiciously.

"I'm making it for him," Severus answered. "It's not finished yet."

Azalea looked like she did not believe him, but Yesmina looked crestfallen.

"What?" Severus asked her.

"Well, we were thinking we'd do a group gift," Yesmina explained. "You know, from all of us, me and you and Azalea and DeWard because…"

"Because what?" Severus demanded.

"'Cuz we ain't got 'nuf money!" Azalea whispered harshly, putting her arm around Severus' shoulder as if to get closer to whisper, but using it as an excuse to give his arm a sharp pinch.

"Ouch!" Severus shouted, which caused most of the patrons and all of the staff of the coop they were in to look over at them.

Severus threw Azalea's arm off.

"I'll give _you_ some money, but not her!" he told Yesmina. "What is it you want to buy?"

"A cassette tape recorder," Yesmina answered.

"A _what_?"

"Like what Benjie got!" Azalea interjected. "You know, that thing he has you put those tapes in and play music?"

"They have them with radios now," Yesmina explained. "They're the latest thing."

"And we could get him some tapes t'go with it," Azalea added, her eyes sparkling. "Both music tapes and blank tapes, that way we can record from the radio or from a record player…"

"Just _whose_ gift _is_ this?" Severus demanded.

"Angel's course!" Azalea sniffed. "But he let us all use it!"

If it were just Azalea demanding it, Severus would have had no trouble continuing to say "No" to her. However, Yesmina looked so pathetic, he felt sorry for her.

"Do they sell stuff like that here?" he asked.

"They sell _everything_ here!" Azalea gleefully exclaimed.

It indeed seemed true; part of the coop was like a regular department store, another part was like a sporting goods store, another part was a lumberyard and hardware. Still another part sold food and equipment for a variety of animals.

Steve and Angel were off in the boys clothing department, checking out shirts and jeans.

Dawn was with her mother in the girls clothing department. DeWard was also with them, as Dawn had insisted that she needed DeWard's opinion on every outfit she tried on.

Severus had actually been enjoying himself in the book department, checking out the wide variety of subjects. He had been engrossed in looking at the photographs in a picture book devoted to reptiles when Azalea and Yesmina had interrupted him.

He decided he would like to buy the book, so he kept it with him as he followed Azalea and Yesmina to the electronics department.

Azalea stopped and longedly gazed at a record player.

"Someday I'm gonna have a record player like that!" she stated. Severus saw that it cost $129.99 and figured that Azalea was going to have to wait a very long time for a record player like that.

"Where is this player thing?" he demanded.

"Over here," Yesmina replied, leading him into the next aisle where radios and cassette players were on display. Most of the devices were one or the other -- either only a radio, or only a tape cassette player. But one small section had a few devices that were both radios _and_ cassette players in one unit.

"Which one?" Severus asked, as there were three models on display. Yesmina and Azalea glanced at each other, but neither said anything.

Severus saw that the cheapest model cost $19.99; it was almost all plastic, with a choice of colors in bright lime green, deep red, sunshine yellow, Day-Glo pink, or purple.

The next model was $27.99; it also was almost all plastic, but it had the option either to run the unit just by batteries, or to use an included adapter to plug it into an electrical outlet.

The last unit cost $39.99, which Severus understood to be a lot of money, as he was becoming better at understanding the value of American money.

The expensive unit came in only one color, a black plastic. However, it also had much more metal on it than the others, a brushed silver metal of some kind that gave the unit a sophisticated and sleek look. It also had the option of running by battery or via an electrical outlet, and while it was far larger than the cheaper models, to Severus' eye it had a much better design. The other two looked like they would fall apart after a few years, while the most expensive model looked like it was built to last.

"I think this one is the better value," Severus announced, pointing to the most expensive model. Both girls looked surprised, none more so than Azalea who obviously had been prepared for a long argument to try to convince Severus to buy the expensive model.

"I think you're right," Yesmina said. "I've heard players like this one; they have much better sound…"

"Okay, let's _buy_ it 'fore Angel sees!" Azalea whispered, grabbing a box containing the player in question from the shelf below the display shelf.

"We need to buy some tapes, too!" Yesmina protested.

"Where are tho…?" Severus began to ask, but both girls were already on their way to a few aisles over to where both LPs and cassette tapes were sold.

"He like Santana!" Azalea announced, grabbing a particular tape from a display.

"_You_ like Santana," Severus observed.

"Angel like him too, he Spanish," Azalea stated dismissively.

"Well, he actually likes other Spanish bands better," Yesmina observed.

"Santana as Spanish he gonna get in _this_ neighborhood!" Azalea sniffed, picking out another cassette.

Severus let the girls pick out the music cassettes, which he suspected were more to _their_ tastes than Angel's. He saw some cassette tapes marked as blank tapes, and chose two of them, bringing them back to the girls.

"Here are some blank tapes," he said, handing them to Yesmina. She had three music tapes she had chosen, and Azalea had chosen six.

"Just how many tapes are you getting him?" Severus demanded, taking Yesmina's hand and turning it so that he could see the price of the tapes.

"Three each, Yesmina, DeWard and me!" Azalea stated defiantly. "'Cuz Severus Snape no way no how involved in this gift, Severus Snape already decide he do his _own_ gift without askin' no one else!"

"Severus Snape is not involved in this gift," Severus observed, "except that Severus Snape seems to be paying for it all. If Severus Snape is not involved in this gift -- _no way no how_ -- then Severus Snape expects to be paid back. With interest."

There was a certain coldness to his voice that surprised even Severus. Moreover, by the look on Yesmina and Azalea's faces, it also surprised them.

"We got some money," Azalea offered. "We'll buy the tapes, you just buy the player."

She put one of the tapes back on the display rack, and then sidled up to Yesmina whispering, "How much money you got?"

Yesmina whispered something in return which Severus could not hear, but in the end it was decided that one tape each would be sufficient.

They then brought Severus to the checkout and paid for the items while Angel was still with Steve. Azalea then brought everything to Annie and Benjie, who were in the sporting goods section trying to decide what tent to buy.

Azalea explained that they'd gotten Angel's gift, and the Silversteins looked surprised when they saw how nice the player was. Benjie took it and the bags contains the cassette tapes (and the book Severus had bought for himself) and promised to hide it up front in the van so that Angel would not see it.

Severus wandered back to the book department to pass the time while the others finished shopping. Yesmina joined him, gladly looking at various books. But Azalea's personality was such that if she could not afford to buy something, she was not interested in looking at it. So she immediately lost all interest in even "window shopping", and decided to join DeWard in helping to comment on Dawn's fashion choices.

Eventually Steve and Dawn got the clothes they needed for the upcoming school year, plus the necessary school supplies, and Annie and Benjie bought a large tent that was on sale. Severus noticed that Angel had not bought anything for himself.

"Is there anything you'd like?" Severus asked him.

"Nah, I'm fine amigo, but thanks for asking," he answered.

"You sure? I saw a book on baseball…I don't know enough about the game to know if the book's any good or not…"

"Really?" Angel asked. "Where is it?"

Severus showed him the book in question. It was a picture book of famous players throughout the history of the game.

"This is a pretty good book," Angel decided, placing the book back on the shelf.

"If you want it, get it," Severus announced, reaching into his pocket and retrieving two $5 bills and handing them to Angel.

"You sure?" Angel asked in amazement.

"Sure I'm sure," Severus answered.

Angel picked up the baseball book and headed to the checkout.

"I'll give you the change back," he promised.

"Don't bother, keep it…" Severus told him. "I'll meet you outside…"

It was not hard to keep Angel from discovering his gift hidden in the front of the van, as his nose was in the baseball book for all the ride back home.

After lunch, it was decided that they would go swimming again. Severus demurred, stating that he would rather read the reptile book he had just bought. What he really wanted to do was work on Angel's gift, and after the others had left for the pond he stuffed a pair of Angel's jeans into his satchel, gathered up his bag of pop tops and headed to the clearing in the woods.

There was still no sign of Elvis and Priscilla; Severus wondered if the elves had already left.

He scanned the woods surrounding the clearing, and saw that he was completely alone…no elves, no Shadow Creature, no _devas_, no Thunderbird flying overhead.

Severus welcomed the seclusion; while the storm the previous night had broken the heat wave, the temperature was still in the 80s that afternoon, but with a gentle breeze, making it quite comfortable to sit on the side of the clearing that was now in shade.

He sat on one of the fallen logs, and took Angel's jeans out of his satchel and laid them on the ground. He then took the pop top "chain mail" chaps he had started for Angel and laid them on top of the jeans to see if it was the correct size.

Something did not look quite right to Severus, so he held the chaps up to himself to see how they looked. However, Angel was a little taller than he was, and definitely huskier, so Severus could not really tell that way, either.

In the end, he decided to add some more pop tops to the outer sides to the garment, but after a few minutes, he realized he had made a mistake, and it was now totally out of proportion.

He was in the process of try to undo the crimps of the pop top tabs he had just added when he heard a loud pop behind his left shoulder.

"Hey, it's the wizard kid! We were hopin' t'find ya here!"

Severus turned and saw Elvis and Priscilla with their caravan where there had only been grass and logs before. Severus guessed that they had charmed their campsite so that it was not visible when they were not there.

"Hello," Severus greeted them. "I had wondered if you had left or not…"

"This evenin'," Elvis answered. "Decided to go visit that cousin in Tennessee…"

"What's you makin', Severus?" Prissy asked, coming up and peering at the pop top chaps Severus had in his hands.

"Another gift," Severus stated glumly. "But it's not working out."

"What the fuck is it?" Elvis demanded. Severus sighed.

"They are _supposed_ to be a pair of what they call 'chaps', something to put on over a pair of jeans for protection," Severus explained.

"Likes chain mail!" Prissy exclaimed, seemingly impressed.

"Yes, exactly," Severus answered.

"Are those pop tops you're usin'?" Elvis asked, coming over and sifting through the bag.

"Uh, yes," Severus answered. "I got them at Woodstock when we helped clean up afterwards…"

"That's one shitload of shit y'got in that bag, I'll give ya that!" Elvis exclaimed, laughing and going to lay on one of the loungers. He took out his pipe and proceeded to smoke it.

When Severus turned back to Prissy, he saw that she had already undone all of his work.

"Dis the size youze wants?" she asked, holding Angel's jeans up in front of her.

"Yes, those pants belong to the boy I was making the chaps for," Severus answered. "But it was harder than I thought it would be…I _did_ make a shirt for myself, but I _did_ have some help on it. This I had to do all on my own, because it is a surprise…"

However, Prissy was already fast at work. Moreover, she was indeed fast…her hands were a blur as she deftly attached one pop top to another.

In what seemed no time at all, she held up a perfect pair of pop top chain mail chaps. Severus was amazed…they were much more sophisticated than anything he could have done. Prissy had made the legs below the knee in a circle so that one had to actually step into the chaps. The top was finished with chain mail loops so that the chaps could hang from a belt.

In addition, Severus could see that Prissy had worked actual designs into the garment using additional tabs from the pop tops.

"Stand back," Severus heard Elvis instruct, and as he did so the elf pointed a wand at the chaps, and in an instant they were now shiny as chrome, rather than a dull aluminum color. Severus just gaped, open-mouthed.

"Here," Prissy said, handing the chaps to Severus.

"Tha…thank you!" Severus gushed. "It…it is beautiful!"

Prissy just smiled and went inside the caravan. Severus sat down next to Elvis, not knowing what to say.

"The _devas_ were rather impressed with you, I heard," Elvis stated, taking a puff on his pipe.

"Huh?" Severus asked, shaken out of his reverie. "Uh, yes…I guess…I mean, I don't really know…"

"They wouldn't have gone out of their way to warn you about the storm yesterday if they weren't impressed with you and those people yer stayin' with…" Elvis explained.

Prissy came out with a bottle of their Elf Wine Cooler and three glasses, and proceeded to pour them all a drink.

"How did it go, your wine cooler I mean?" Severus asked, gesturing to the bottle with his glass.

"Very well, as a matter o' fact!" Elvis answered. "Actually, better than expected! We're almost all out. That's one o' the reason we're goin' to Tennessee, we're goin' to set up a production facility there…they know brewin' in Tennessee!"

Elvis laughed as if he thought Severus understood him, but the only thing Severus knew was that Tennessee was to the south of where they currently were. He took another sip of wine cooler to have an excuse not to say anything.

"So you are leaving tonight?" he finally asked, when an awkward pause ensued. "There won't be a problem if my friends want to come here tomorrow?"

"Nope," Elvis answered. "All spells keeping nonmagickal humans out will be gone…why?"

"It's my friend's birthday," Severus explained. "Actually, it is not until Friday, but we are leaving Friday morning, so we are going to celebrate his birthday tomorrow…"

"And youze wants to have a party here!" Prissy guessed.

"Well, no…well, sort of…not really a party…that's tomorrow night, at the house. But they need to decorate the house, so we're doing sort of a fake birthday thing here tomorrow, so Angel won't suspect anything…"

Severus felt foolish. He had little experience with birthday parties, and really did not understand why everyone was insisting everything be kept secret from Angel…after all, didn't Angel know that was his own birthday?

But Elvis and Priscilla nodded as if they clearly understood what Severus was explaining.

"I should go," Severus decided, finishing his wine cooler. "I have to get back before Angel does, so that he does not know that I took his jeans…"

Severus stood up, and as he did so, Elvis and Priscilla also stood up. Elvis offered Severus his right hand.

"It's been real nice meetin' ya, Sev!" Elvis exclaimed, shaking Severus' hand. Priscilla then made it a point to shake his hand, too.

"Weeze gonna miss you, Sev," she said, and Severus wondered if he saw tears in her eyes.

"Anything you want for Christmas this year, just put it in your letter to the Big Guy!" Elvis suggested, slapping Severus on the back. "Mention my name in the letter, we'll make sure ya get it!"

Maybe it was the wine cooler, but the thought of Christmas suddenly made Severus very confused. He had no idea where he would be come Christmas…

"Uh…thanks," was all he could think to say. "Thank you very much."

He started to walk towards the path out of the woods, but then turned to say something else to the elves. However, they and all their belongings were nowhere in sight.

Severus sighed. If it were not for the chaps in his satchel, he would almost think that the elves had only been a figment of his imagination.

As he entered the woods, he saw the Shadow Creature come up alongside him and keep pace with him. However, this time it did not stay in the woods when Severus reached the farm, but stayed at his side as he went into the barn. It stayed downstairs when Severus went up into the loft and quickly returned Angel's jeans and hid the chaps behind the bale of hay Severus had been using as a sort of headboard.

The others returned from the pond, and Severus was surprised to see that the Shadow Creature was still lurking on the ground level of the barn.

What was even more surprising was that it followed him to supper, remaining on the edge of the patio by the bushes, and then followed him when he returned to the barn with the others. It again remained downstairs when he went upstairs into the loft.

Angel had borrowed Benjie's cassette recorder, and he and Steve proceeded to make tapes of Steve's record albums.

_Now you know how nice it feels  
__Scatter good seed in the fields  
_

Severus had joined Azalea, Yesmina, Dawn and DeWard in playing some game called "Monopoly"; after they had explained the rules, Severus found that he rather enjoyed the concept of the game, and he won every round of the game save two, Dawn winning one round and DeWard surprisingly winning the other.

_Life's ours for the making  
__Eternity's waiting, waiting  
__For you and me.  
_

Later, as the last light was turned out when they all went to bed, Severus thought he heard something moving in the barn below them. And then it was a sense of something coming up the ladder rather than hearing it.

The next thing he knew, the Shadow Creature was sitting beside him. Severus just stared at it, wondering. It finally lay down between him and the open hayloft door.

"Suit yourself," Severus whispered, turning over.

"What?" Yesmina asked.

"Nothing."

_Now you know that you are real  
__Show your friends that you and me  
__Belong to the same world  
__Turned on to the same word_

_  
_

* * *

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

* * *

_Now you know how nice it feels  
Scatter good seed in the fields  
__Life's ours for the making  
__Eternity's waiting, waiting  
__For you and me._

_Now you know that you are real  
__Show your friends that you and me  
__Belong to the same world  
__Turned on to the same word  
__Have you heard?_

_Have you heard?  
__Have you heard?  
__Have you heard?  
__Have you heard?  
_

**HAVE YOU HEARD? (Part 2)  
**_On the Threshold of a Dream  
_The Moody Blues  
1969


	22. Ch 20 Departure Aug28Aug29'69

_Again, sorry for the delay in updating this story…hopefully I will be better from this point on in updating this in a more timely manner._

_I am also in the process of posting this story to LiveJournal; I've only got the first few chapters up there, but I eventually plan to have all the chapters up on that site, and will then concurrently post updates both here and on LiveJournal._

_Readers may wan't to check out the LiveJournal version, as that site allows me to turn each chapter into somewhat of a "multimedia" experience, in that I am including pictures and a link to play each chapter's song(s)._

_You can find the entries by going onto the LiveJournal site and searching for my user name over there, which is also "majorjune", and then clicking on "Entries", and then on "Archives" to start from the beginning._

_=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=_

**Chapter 20 - Departure  
**_August 28-29, 1969_

_=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=_

"How come we never come here before?"

Azalea threw the blankets she'd been carrying down on the ground, and then stood with her hands on her hips, gazing around the clearing in the woods with approval. Steve just shrugged.

"I dunno, just never thought of it…"

He took a small bag of charcoal briquettes out of the paper bag he'd carried and proceeded to pour them into a circle of stones that showed evidence of having been put to such use before. He then lit them and then retrieved a grate from the paper bag and put it over the flames.

Dawn, DeWard, and Yesmina came into the clearing, each carrying a full paper bag. DeWard and Yesmina followed Dawn, who walked up beside her brother and placed her sack on the ground.

"Where do you want us to put these?" Yesmina asked.

"What's in your bag?" Steve asked.

Azalea brushed off a log with one of the blankets before spreading it out and then sitting on the blanket, using the log as a backrest.

"I have the plates and napkins and stuff," Yesmina answered.

"Put them on the blanket," Dawn instructed, glaring at the back of Azalea's head. Steve peered into DeWard's bag.

"Where's the hamburgers and hotdogs?" he demanded. Dawn looked frustrated, but before she could answer, a very sweaty Angel and Severus stumbled into the clearing, dropping a large cooler they'd been carrying between them.

"There!" Dawn answered. "_They_ have the meat and the other stuff that has to be kept cold…"

Angel and Severus tried to pick up the obviously very heavy cooler, but Steve stood up, took one end from Angel, and helped Severus to bring the cooler over to the one blanket Azalea had spread out.

"Do you think you could at least spread out the other blankets, Princess?" Steve demanded, but it was Yesmina who stood up and performed the task. Steve opened the cooler and took out two foil-wrapped packages.

"Gee, thanks for all the _help_ you've been!" Angel stated sarcastically, coming over to the cooler and retrieving a cold can of soda.

"You get me a soda outta there," Azalea demanded, not bothering to even turn to look at them.

Steve took a can out of the cooler and started winding up to throw it like a baseball at Azalea's head, but before he could throw it, Azalea sprung to her feet.

"What's that?" she demanded, crossing to the other side of the dirt circle and past the log seats on that side. There in the grass, in the general area where Elvis and Priscilla had camped, was a large wooden crate. Azalea peered at the contents, and then turned to look at Severus.

"You put this here?" she asked. Severus just shook his head, too tired to say anything.

"What is it?" Angel demanded, coming to look for himself.

Azalea reached into the crate and pulled out a blue bottle with a white ceramic stopper. Angel pulled out another one.

"These look like that bottle of wine you brought us the other night," Angel offered.

Indeed, they did. Severus realized that the elves must have deliberately left it as a gift.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers," Azalea announced, as she and Angel carried the crate over to the cooler. "Happy birthday, Angel…"

Azalea pulled a bottle out again and handed it to Angel.

"Gee, thanks, you shouldn't have…" Angel replied sarcastically. Azalea ignored the comment and proceeded to empty the crate and put the bottles into the cooler with the ice and soda so that they could get cold. Dawn then decided that the crate could be put to good use as a table, and she turned it over and put it by the fireplace, where Steve was now grilling hamburgers and hotdogs.

As the others started to open up the various bags of snacks they'd brought, Jay, Rusty, Jay, Libby and Jill, all carrying paper bags full of items, joined them.

Soon they were all enjoying a feast of hamburgers, hotdogs, macaroni salad, chips and dip and other snacks, and Libby's homemade chocolate chip cookies and Jill's cupcakes. The meal, combined with the warm afternoon and a few bottles of cold Elf Wine Cooler soon had most everyone dozing off.

"_Pssstt!_" Severus heard in his ear. He opened one eye, and saw Azalea, Yesmina and Dawn leaning over him. Dawn just gestured her head, indicating that he should come with them.

He got up without saying a word, grabbed his satchel, and left the clearing with the girls, plus DeWard. The Shadow Creature, which had followed Severus from the farm and had lurked at the edge of the clearing, kept pace with them as they returned to the farm.

It had been agreed that morning that when they could get away without Angel noticing, that they would return to the farmhouse to help with preparations for Angel's party that night. The others would keep Angel occupied until suppertime.

There was a lot of activity going on; since everyone from the Hog Farm was leaving the next morning, the party that night was as much a going-away party as a birthday party for Angel.

In addition, many people were helping to harvest produce from the plants that had been blown down in the storm, and there was a lot of canning being done to preserve it all.

Annie and Corrine were putting the final touches on Angel's birthday cake; Severus was tempted to taste some of the frosting, but resisted the urge.

Behind the kitchen, on the patio, there were a lot of paper decorations that no one had had time to put up yet. The children were put at work to hang these decorations, but it was time consuming to have to keep climbing up a ladder and down again, so when no adult was looking Severus risked using magick, taking his wand out of his satchel and doing a few "_Wingardium Leviosa_" spells to hang paper lanterns from the overhanging tree branches.

In addition, when he heard Dawn's mother complaining that the storm had destroyed most of the flowers remaining in the garden, Severus secretly performed a few "_Orchideus_" spells and soon had a plethora of bright bouquets decorating the table and patio. All this time Severus had noticed that Shadow, the name he had decided to call the Shadow Creature, kept lurking around the edges of the patio.

When they finished with the decorations, Azalea decided to take a shower and get ready for the party while Yesmina, Dawn and DeWard went to wrap Angel's gifts. Severus took the pair of chain mail chaps out of his satchel and gave it to Yesmina to wrap for him. He then spent the rest of the afternoon helping Linda to make spaghetti sauce from scratch, Severus making a mental note to memorize the recipe so that he could recreate it later, having decided that Linda's sauce was better than Annie's.

When there was nothing left to do in preparation for the party, Severus went back to the barn (Shadow close behind) and washed up using the pump outside. When he finished he went up into the loft, finding Azalea packing her things.

"They washed our clothes," she explained, nodding to the various folded piles of clothing in the loft. "Janet says if we give her our dirty clothes, she get them done tonight for us…"

Azalea turned to look at Severus who was just standing staring at her, his shirt and pants in his hands.

"Ewwww!!! You _need_ to get those washed!" Azalea complained, crinkling her nose. Severus covered his knickers with his shirt and pants.

"Get something clean on," Azalea ordered, finishing her packing and starting on DeWard's clothes. "And then pack the rest."

Severus still did not move. Azalea sighed loudly and turned to glare at him.

"We _are_ leaving tomorrow!" she reminded him. "Y'gotta pack all your stuff, unless you want to leave it all until tonight when you tired and it's dark!"

She turned back around and angrily shoved DeWard's clothes into his bag.

Severus did not say anything, but went over to where he had been sleeping all week, and found not only the rest of his now clean jeans, tee shirts and knickers, but his smock shirt which had been put back together. However, there were also additional shirts, new ones that had been sewn that week based on the smock's design. There was also a pile of shirts and jeans that Severus did not recognize.

"Those from the Temples and the others," Azalea explained, starting to pack Yesmina's bag. "They old clothes, they say take what fits us."

For the first time Severus noticed that Azalea was wearing one of the smock-blouses that had been based on his shirt, but he had not seen Azalea with it before. He then noticed that Yesmina had many more blouses and dresses that she'd had, and he realized that someone must have decided to not only give them old clothes, but to make new ones for them.

He did not know what to make of this gesture. It was one thing to go to a "Free Store" and just take what one needed, but this was, well, _charity_. For some reason it made him feel uncomfortable, and it seemed that Azalea felt the same way.

However, if _he _declined the offers, then they would _all_ have to, and he knew that he could not make that decision for the others. And he surmised that Azalea had come to the same decision.

He went over to the pile of old clothes and picked through the jeans, finding a faded pair with holes in the knees that was about his size. At home, he would have been made fun of for wearing such tattered pants, but over here in America, he had seen that such old, worn clothing was actually considered quite fashionable.

He also found a green and brown tee shirt in his size proclaiming one's devotion to the local high school, a "Go Thunderbirds!" emblazoned across the chest.

He grabbed a clean pair of knickers and then went behind a bale of hay to change into the clean clothes.

"Here," Azalea offered as he came back out, throwing a paper bag at him. "Put your dirty clothes in that!"

Severus, out of modesty, folded his dirty knickers and then folded his dirty shirt and pants around it, and then placed them all into the bag. Still not saying a word, he proceeded to pack his clothes into his satchel.

It was hitting him more severely than he had expected. He was going to miss this place.

Moreover, as bad as it was, the idea that they would be leaving tomorrow morning and never returning to this place was the knowledge that it also meant that Azalea would be leaving them.

Azalea had finished Yesmina's packing and had started in on Angel's. The top she was wearing had been done up in a "peasant" style in fine white muslin, and someone had added crocheted lace to the collar and sleeves, plus embroidered flowers. She was wearing her best jeans (which meant they were the best fitting), and what she called her "dress sandals".

She had put on a fresh coat of pink nail polish and had rings on almost every finger. In addition, she wore a metal cuff bracelet that she claimed came from India, a beaded bracelet on the other arm, and numerous necklaces. She had on earrings that hung in a type of half-moon, from which dangled a multitude of colored beads in all colors of the rainbow, and she'd made up her face with a dark green eye shadow, blush the color of black cherries, and a pink lip-gloss. She'd left her hair in what she called "a natural", and had placed one of the flowers that Severus had conjured into a beaded headband that she wore.

"You look pretty," Severus observed.

Azalea put Angel's bag down and looked at Severus. He thought that her eyes looked unnaturally bright.

"Come here," she ordered softly. Severus did as he was told, and she guided him to sit in front of her. She reached into her bag and retrieved her comb, and started to comb his hair.

"Gotta do somethin' with this," she observed. "You got it all messed up this week."

Severus just nodded acquiescence, but remained silent. This would probably be the last time ever that Azalea would do his hair, and he just wanted to enjoy the experience.

She softly grasped his hair, which was now well below his shoulders, and combed it for much longer than was necessary. She then created a few braids in front, finishing each braid with a bead.

Yesmina and DeWard returned as Azalea was finishing Severus' hair. Azalea directed them to the donated clothing, plus their clean clothes packed in their bags.

"We have to hurry, they'll be coming back any time now," Yesmina observed.

"Should we return to the house first, or wait for Angel here?" Severus asked.

"Wait at the house," Azalea answered. "They suppose to keep him out 'til real late, make it seem like we already left for supper 'cuz they so late…"

Yesmina and DeWard deposited their dirty clothes in the same bag as Severus'; DeWard had opted for his favorite pair of jeans and tee shirt, but Yesmina was wearing a new smock-dress made of seersucker cloth in a white, rose, and green plaid with similar lace on it as Azalea's blouse. She had opted to wear her favorite pair of pink sneakers, and a pair of daisy earrings.

Yesmina started to brush her hair, but Azalea grabbed her hand and forced her towards the stairs.

"I'll help you with your hair at the house," she ordered. "We gotta get outta here…"

So without another word, they quickly made their way back to the farmhouse, Shadow again tailing after Severus.

Dawn looked freshly scrubbed and smelled of powder, and she too was wearing a smock-dress, this one made of striped cotton in shades of Day-Glo pink, lime green, orange, and yellow, which she flirtatiously showed off to DeWard by twirling around in front of him.

Azalea braided some of Yesmina's hair, taking some of the flowers from the decorations and working them into Yesmina's braids. She then proceeded to work on putting some makeup onto Yesmina, so Severus decided it would be more interesting to watch how Linda and Corrine made fried chicken.

They were still awaiting the arrival of the guest of honor, but Severus could see that the party actually was well under way, as music played on a record player from one area, some Hog Farm members were creating their own music via guitars and bongos in another area, and everyone seemed to be feeling the effects of various intoxicants, including a drink called "mead" which Tom Temple explained had been an "experiment" first started the year before.

They explained that it was made from honey, but Severus was surprised that it really was not all that sweet when he was given some to try.

Finally, when Severus thought he could no longer stand the growling of his stomach, the guest of honor arrived, with Steve, Dave, Rusty, Jay, Libby and Jill close behind.

Angel looked genuinely surprised and shocked when everyone yelled "Surprise!" and then sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Severus thought that for one moment, Angel was going to cry.

But Angel then grinned broadly as everyone finished singing, blushed and could only say "Wow!" before being ushered to a place of honor at the head of the table.

He was given a crown of gold cardboard to wear, and everyone else was instructed to put on their own "party hat" that was on the table in front of them.

Severus glared suspiciously at the paper cone in front of him that was an absurd shade of orange with bright red balloons printed on it. He had thought that it was something that was going to later be filled with candy, not something that he was expected to put on his head.

Most everyone, the adults included, did not hesitate to put on their own party hats, but Severus noticed that Azalea was eyeing her own party hat as suspiciously as he had his own.

Annie encouraged Azalea and Severus to put on their hats, but as Severus slowly complied, he noticed that Azalea only made a half-hearted attempt with her own hat before loudly announcing, "It don't fit!" and taking it off.

Severus did not say a word, but silently took his party hat and placed it out of sight on the bench beside him.

By this time, the food (and additional rounds of alcoholic drinks for the adults) was being served, so no one took much notice of Severus' bare head.

There were a couple of platters of fresh sliced tomatoes layered with slices of raw onion, mozzarella cheese, basil, and drizzled with olive oil. There was also a type of salad made of thinly sliced cucumbers and onions, which had been mixed with sour cream and fresh chopped dill weed.

Severus also enjoyed a helping of a type of salad that used spinach instead of lettuce, and he would have very easily made a supper of it, if not tempted by the servings of spaghetti, followed by the fried chicken and fresh mashed potatoes.

He also availed himself of a few cheeseburgers fresh from the barbecue grill, before moving on to a helping of macaroni and cheese. He then enjoyed some "grilled pizza", consisting of slices of crusty homemade bread grilled on the barbecue and then topped with cheese until it melted, followed by a concoction of diced tomatoes, peppers, onions, and herbs like garlic, oregano, and basil.

By the time Severus was ready to concede that he was indeed full and could not imagine fitting anything else into his stomach, Benjie and Jack carried in a cake with eleven lit candles on it, and everyone burst into singing "Happy Birthday" to Angel again.

This presentation was followed by five other cakes being placed on the table, and containers of various flavored ice cream.

Jan, Linda, and Corrine brought in armloads of gaily-wrapped gifts and placed them by Angel, who was overwhelmed by the presentation.

"Blow out the candles, stupid!" Azalea admonished him, and Angel actually looked relieved to have an excuse not to open his gifts.

Everyone cheered when Angel successfully blew out all the candles, but he did not answer when a few people prompted him to say what he had wished for, concentrating on cutting his cake instead.

"It a _secret_!" Azalea stated. "It don't come true if you tell!"

She turned to Severus and winked.

He in turned just smiled and turned to concentrate on the piece of cake he'd just been served, but before he could take a bite Benjie, who had been having quite a few glasses of mead all evening, sat down next to him.

"Where's your hat?" he demanded, putting his arm around Severus' shoulders. "It's a _party_, ya gotta wear a hat! Oh, _there_ it is!"

He unfortunately, for Severus' sake, found the offensive hat on the bench beside him, grabbed it, and placed it rather roughly on Severus' head, pulling the elastic cord under Severus' chin to secure it.

"There!" Benjie proudly slurred. "Y'look _festive_!" Benjie then slapped Severus on the back.

Severus could see Azalea looking at him with a smirk, her eyes going from the hat on his head to his face and then back again.

"Fit _you_ fine!" she announced, before turning back to eating her slice of cake.

Severus was not happy about the hat, but since Benjie had decided to stay put, he knew if he tried to take it off that Benjie would just put it back on. Severus decided to drown his sorrows in cake and ice cream sundaes.

It was only when Angel finally started opening his gifts and Benjie's glass was empty and he went in search of a refill, that Severus was able to slip the hat off. This time he threw it on the ground under the table, stepping on it and scrunching it with his foot for good measure.

Most of Angel's gifts consisted of new socks, jeans and tee shirts; Jack's gift was a rather finely-tooled leather belt.

Steve's gift to Angel was a leather catcher's mitt, and Dave, Rusty and Jay had all gone in together to buy Angel a bat and ball. Libby and Jill's combined gift was a Matchbox car set. Dawn's gift was a game called "Kerplunk", DeWard's was something called a "Nerf ball", and April and Andy's gift to Angel was a toy projector with slides from various TV shows, which they proudly announced only took one and three-quarters of their mother's Plaid Stamps books.

Angel was looking rather overwhelmed by this point, profusely thanking everyone and again, at least to Severus, seemed on the verge of tears.

Only two gifts remained to be opened, and Severus could tell that the lumpiness of the one that Angel next picked up that it had to be Severus' gift of the chain mail chaps. The tag that Yesmina had put on the package verified this assumption.

Angel ripped open the package and just stared expressionlessly at the contents. Severus thought that perhaps Angel did not like the gift.

"It's…" Severus started, but Angel interrupted him.

"_Cool_, dude!" he exclaimed, holding up the chaps. "Wow, they're _beautiful_!"

Angel stood up and held the chaps up to himself, to the _oohs_ and _aahs_ of many of the adults.

"You hook it through your belt," Severus explained.

Angel wasn't wearing a belt, but he grabbed the one that Jack had given him and quickly had the chaps on.

"Now I don't have to worry about _a certain someone_ always kicking me!" he announced, getting a few chuckles in response.

"Well if _that_ the way you feel," Azalea huffed, sticking her nose in the air, "than I s'pose you don't _want_ that last gift!"

Angel looked down at the rather large box, and quickly lifted it to the table and proceeded to tear the wrapping off.

He was speechless when he saw what it was. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out.

"You're goin' t'catch bugs that way!" someone called out. Still Angel just stared at the box.

"We put batteries in it," Yesmina explained, "and there're some cassettes we put inside the box, so you can start using it right away…"

Angel opened the box, and lifted out the loose cassette tapes. He then lifted the device out of the box, freed it of its packing material, and placed it almost reverentially on the table. Many of the adult men came over and inspected it admiringly, and someone finally turned it on so that the radio could play.

"We got you Santana and Smokey," Azalea explained, pointing to the cassettes. "And Jose Feliciano. That's as Spanish as they get around here!"

"And we got you some blank tapes, so you can record from the radio," Yesmina added.

Angel allowed Steve to open the Jose Feliciano tape, put it into the player, and push the _Start_ button. Everyone _aah'd_ when the music started and opined that the device had great sound.

Angel looked at Azalea and Yesmina.

"Thank you," he said. Severus thought that his voice sounded slightly shaky.

Angel looked at Severus, and mouthed "Thank you" to him, before turning his attention back to finishing his own slice of his birthday cake.

The party continued for many more hours. Many of the adults found the Nerf ball irresistible fun, and even Severus enjoyed playing a few rounds of the Kerplunk game.

Finally, it was decided that there was a long day ahead, and that they should all try to get a good night's sleep.

This time it was decided that Angel would have a "sleepover" with Steve in his bedroom in the house, and Dawn would have gladly had DeWard stay with her in her own bedroom, but DeWard, perhaps knowing that Azalea would be going in a few days, refused to leave her side.

So Dawn decided to join them for one last night sleeping in the barn loft. She and DeWard were soon cuddled together, with DeWard insisting that Azalea sleep on the other side of him. Azalea had hardly said a word since they had left the party, just taking off her jewelry and hair ornaments and then laying behind DeWard, putting her arm over both him and Dawn.

Yesmina and Severus took up their usual places together against the bales of hay by the loft door. It was a clear night, lit by the full moon.

"I'll miss this place," Yesmina said in a low voice.

"Mmmmmm," Severus mumbled in ascent, gazing out the door.

"Too bad we can't stay here," Yesmina continued.

Severus did not move.

"Well, we can't," he announced quietly, continuing to stare out the door. "We are leaving tomorrow, and that is that. Complaining about it will not change the facts."

He could tell that Yesmina was staring at his back, perhaps waiting for him to say something else, perhaps trying to think of a retort.

"Go to sleep, Yesmina," Severus demanded. "It _is_ going to be a long day tomorrow!"

For sometime he did not hear anything, but then he heard Yesmina sigh and turn her back to him. Even though she did not make a sound, Severus was sure that she was crying.

He had no words of comfort for her, and so he said nothing, just continued to stare out at the full moon. After a while Shadow came up into the loft and placed himself in the loft doorway; Severus had the sensation that the creature was looking from him to Yesmina and back again.

"Go to sleep!" he whispered to the creature, although he had no idea whether it slept or not. However, it did not really matter, because soon Severus himself was asleep.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Breakfast was late the next morning; while everyone tried to keep the atmosphere light and cheerful, there was a definite subdued undertone to the proceedings.

There were still plenty of buttermilk biscuits, muffins and cake from the night before, and the children had their choice of eggs any way they wanted, in addition to French toast.

However, their departure could no longer be delayed, and shortly after 11, they were all gathered in the front of the house, making their final goodbyes.

Dozens of paper grocery bags and cardboard boxes full of fresh produce, homemade canned and baked goods were loaded into the Silversteins van and the one bus that Jack was riding on that was going to accompany the Silversteins while the rest of the Hog Farm went directly on to New Mexico.

Severus was surprised when Angel gave Steve a belt of braided leather as a gift, and even more surprised when Azalea gave Steve a gift of three music tapes and another gift to Dawn of hair ornaments of various colors and designs, saying that it was "from all of them".

Dawn's gift only succeeded in causing the already teary-eyed girl to start crying hysterically, which in turn caused DeWard to burst into tears and the both of them to desperately clutch at each other.

Yesmina tried to comfort them while Angel and Steve just looked unhappy and uncomfortable. Azalea looked angry, but Severus could not tell at who or what she was angry.

Finally, it took the intervention of Benjie and Dawn's father to separate her from a now equally hysterical DeWard. Benjie had to actually carry DeWard into the van, followed closely by Yesmina and Azalea.

"Come on, kids," Annie urged Angel and Severus as she shifted an oblivious sleeping Judy on her shoulder. "We've got to get going if we're to get to Azalea's Dad's by this evening."

With that, she said her goodbyes to the Temples and the others, and then turned and went into the van.

Angel turned to Steve and awkwardly shook his hand.

"Keep in touch," Angel stated softly.

"Yeah," was Steve's only answer, as he stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth.

Severus did not know what to do or say. He had never had to leave people he cared about before.

"Goodbye," he said to Steve, taking Angel's lead and offering his hand to the other boy.

"Uh yeah, take care of yourself," Steve answered, shaking Severus' hand.

"Thank you," Severus stated to the Temples, offering his hand to each of Steve and Dawn's parents. They shook his hand, and stated what a pleasure it was having them all as guests.

Severus repeated this procedure with the Lombardos, and finally with the Gauchons, making sure to include April and Andy, who were peering out from behind their parents' legs, too upset and afraid to come out any further.

"Come on," Angel urged, putting his arm around Severus and guiding him to the van.

They went without saying a word, Dawn sobbing so hysterically that Severus wondered if she would ever _stop_ crying.

It was no better in the van. The back was crowded with the clothes and food they had been given, and DeWard was hysterically clinging to the window, crying as he got one last look at Dawn as Benjie finally started the van and turned it around and headed down the driveway.

Severus could not help but gaze out the back window as the Temple farm grew smaller and finally disappeared from sight as they turned onto the main road.

Azalea was strangely quiet, gazing out one of the side windows, with a look of anger still on her face.

Angel sat on the opposite side of the van, also gazing out of the window without a word.

Even the Silversteins were silent, the only sound in the van being that of DeWard's crying and Yesmina unsuccessfully attempting to comfort him.

Severus sighed and turned away from them, trying to decide if he wanted to move to sit on Azalea's side of the bus, or Angel's.

He decided on Angel's side, but just as he was finding a place to sit, he glanced over at Azalea. She was leaning on some boxes of food they'd been given, but in an empty space between the boxes and the back of Benjie's seat, in an enclosure covered by a couple of folded-up quilts, sat Shadow.

The creature was as oblivious of Azalea as she was of it, but the creature was definitely staring at Severus, who did not know if he should say or do anything about it.

"Why don't you play some music on your new player, Angel?" Annie suggested.

Angel didn't answer, but he pulled his birthday gift out, and then put in what looked to be a homemade tape.

"Steve made this for me last night," he confirmed.

_Be it sight, sound, the smell, the touch  
__There's something inside that we need so much_

_The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound  
__Or the strength of an oak with roots deep in the ground_

As Benjie pulled on to the Interstate, DeWard's hysterical sobs subsided into sniffles, and he and Yesmina snuggled together against their satchels and backpacks next to Azalea.

_The wonder of flowers to be covered  
__And then to burst up through tarmac  
__To the sun again_

_Or to fly to the sun without burning a wing  
__To lie in the meadow and hear the grass sing  
__To have all these things in our memories hoard  
__And to use them  
__To help us  
__To find...  
__Love..._

* * *

_

* * *

_

Be it sight, sound, the smell, the touch  
_There's something inside that we need so much_

_The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound  
__Or the strength of an oak with roots deep in the ground_

_The wonder of flowers to be covered  
__And then to burst up through tarmac  
__To the sun again_

_Or to fly to the sun without burning a wing  
__To lie in the meadow and hear the grass sing  
__To have all these things in our memories hoard  
__And to use them  
__To help us  
__To find...  
__Love..._

**DEPARTURE  
**_In Search of the Lost Chord  
_The Moody Blues  
1968


	23. Ch 21 Honky Tonk Women Aug29Aug30'69

_Except for the name of the club where Azalea father works, all the other club names mentioned in this chapter come from the 1950 movie, "Panic in the Streets"_

* * *

'_Cause I was born lonely down by the riverside  
Learned to spin fortune __wheels__, and throw dice  
And I was just thirteen when I had to leave __home__  
Knew I couldn't stick around, I had to roam_

Severus dipped a steamed vegetable dumpling into sauce, and then slowly ate it; Angel was eagerly attacking the boneless ribs, while Yesmina and DeWard played with the fried rice more than they ate it. All four would occasionally glance across the street to the restaurant from which the food had come.

_Ain't __good looking__, but you know I ain't shy  
Ain't afraid to look a girl in the eye  
So if you need some lovin', and you need it right away  
Take a little time out, and maybe I'll stay _

It really was too hot to eat; Severus put his dumplings down on the floor of the van, took a long drink of cold cherry soda, and started eating some blueberries that the Temples had given them that morning.

_I'm out of __money__, 'cause you know I need some  
I ain't around to __love you__ now, and I gotta run  
_

They had reached Mexico, Missouri a little after three that afternoon; they'd had to ask directions to Azalea's father's address, and each time they had, Severus had noticed a strange look on the face of the person giving the directions.

They finally found the address in what Annie had mumbled looked like "a bad part of town", but which to Severus did not look much different from the neighborhood he'd grown up in.

The address was actually for a business, whose now-dimmed neon sign proclaimed was _"Sweet Pepper's Wild Thyme Club", _and whose interior was hidden from view by thick red curtains.

Annie and Benjie had just stared at each other when Benjie pulled up in front of the club, and then turned to look at Azalea, who'd had an expression that Severus had never seen on her before. To him it looked like fear, embarrassment, and anger were all competing at once.

The rest of the Hog Farm caravan had double-parked farther up the street, and some of the men got out, Jack included, with smirks on their faces and joking in voices too low for Severus to hear -- but he had the distinct impression that _Sweet Pepper's _was _not_ considered a "good place".

Apparently, the Silversteins had phoned Azalea's father that morning that they were coming, because Roosevelt "Roscoe" Wanetta stepped out from Sweet Pepper's almost immediately.

Severus gave Mr. Wanetta a thorough look, but could only see a slight resemblance between him and his daughter. Mr. Wanetta actually looked rather old, with mostly gray hair and moustache, and he was extremely thin and what could be deemed "wiry", his arms being rather "ropey", with his veins almost separate from what little muscle there was under the skin.

He warmly shook both Benjie's and Annie's hands as he introduced himself with almost a bow, but Azalea did not move when Mr. Wanetta called out "Baby!" and held his arms wide, expecting her to come out of the van so that he could hug her. She instead just glared at him, and then turned her back and crossed her arms, not saying a word.

Severus noticed that both Angel and Yesmina seemed as uncomfortable as the Silversteins, and he wondered what was going on. Azalea, while a little nervous, had actually been looking forward to seeing her father after so many years absence.

Mr. Wanetta was somewhat nonplussed by his daughter's behavior.

"We need to talk, Mr. Wanetta," Annie stated, leaning across Benjie with Judy in her arms.

"Call me Roscoe," Mr. Wanetta offered.

"Roscoe," Benjie stated. "Is there somewhere…"

Benjie glanced at _Sweet Pepper's Wild Thyme Club._

"Is there somewhere we can go to talk, that's private?"

Mr. Wanetta pointed across the street to a Chinese restaurant called _Pearl Garden._

"We can go there…but you need to move these buses," he stated, indicating both the Silversteins' van and the other vehicles. "You can go 'round the corner there, park in back of the club."

So that is what they did, and after parking in the shade of the club building, the Silversteins left with Azalea for the restaurant. A short time later, someone from the restaurant delivered food to them without a word.

Severus noticed that most of the other Hog Farm members seemed to be finding something amusing, even Jack was smirking and joking with a few of the men, before he and a few of them went inside _Sweet Pepper's._

"Oh, brother!" Angel spat in disgust, watching the men go inside.

"What?" Severus asked.

"_Nothin'!_"was all that Angel would answer.

By this time they'd all decided that hot food was not what they wanted, as it was in the 90s in the shade and extremely humid.

"Let's go for a walk," Yesmina suggested. "It might be a little cooler, maybe we can find someplace that's air-conditioned, maybe get some ice cream…"

Since there wasn't anything else to do except sit there in the heat and listen to Angel's new radio-cassette player, they turned off the radio and set off to explore the neighborhood.

But it was no cooler elsewhere in the neighborhood, and it was obvious even to Severus that establishments with the names _"Rizzo's", "Flamingo Lounge", "Famous Door Bar"_ -- Severus wondered what made the door famous -- _"Vieux Carre", "Gunga Den", "Stormy's", _and _"Club Slipper"_ -- the sign for which was a neon high-heeled shoe with the club's name inside the shoe -- were not places where children would be welcomed.

They finally did find a convenience store where Severus bought them all popsicles and cold sodas.

They slowly made their way back to the van, the popsicles having been quickly eaten or sacrificed to the heat. They were just walking into the parking lot behind _Sweet Pepper's_ when they saw Azalea storming out of _Pearl Garden_, her father right behind her, pleading, and the Silversteins' a few feet behind Mr. Wanetta.

"Baby! Honey!" they could hear Mr. Wanetta pleading, grabbing Azalea's arm as she reached the front of the van. He said something to her that Severus could not hear, but Azalea just pulled her arm away from her father without a word and threw herself into the back of the van, obviously upset over something. DeWard in turn pulled his hand out of Yesmina's and went running up to the van to snuggle against Azalea, who stroked his hair absent-mindedly.

Someone called Benjie's name, and Severus only then noticed Jack lurking in the growing shadows underneath the fire escape behind _Sweet Pepper's_; as Benjie went to talk to Jack, Annie in turn was talking softly to Mr. Wanetta.

As Severus and the other children reached the van, Mr. Wanetta approached Azalea.

"Baby, it's my job!" he told her, stroking her arm, but Azalea just pulled it away and turned to stare out the window. "You _know_ if I could, I'd take ya! But this ain't no place fer ya!"

For the first time Azalea made a response, but it was only a huff, as she continued to stare out the window and ignore her father. To Severus, Mr. Wanetta looked like a deflated balloon.

"I gotta get ready for work," Mr. Wanetta stated with a shrug, to no one in particular. He then turned and went into _Sweet Peppers'._

"What's wrong?" Severus asked softly as they reached the back of the van, but before anyone could answer, Benjie came back from talking to Jack.

"Listen, Jack and the other's have managed to get the owner of the club to agree that we can park here for the night…"

Annie looked decidedly unhappy with this offer, as did Azalea, Angel, and Yesmina.

"Benjie!" Annie protested. "Listen, I'm pretty open-minded about this sort of stuff…"

She gestured her head towards _Sweet Pepper's_, causing Severus to wonder just what sort of "stuff" occurred behind the closed, thick red curtains of the club.

"But this isn't any sort of neighborhood for kids…"

"I know," Benjie conceded, "but it's late, it'll be dark soon and it's too late to leave and it's too late to find someplace else to stay…they say it's actually pretty safe here, that no one bothers with anyone parked at the club…"

Annie sighed, jiggling Judy for no apparent reason, as her daughter was soundly asleep on her shoulder.

"I guess we have no choice, if the others have already decided…"

Severus noticed that someone had started playing a piano inside _Sweet Pepper's_, and that Jack and a few other men were going back inside.

Annie and Benjie looked at Azalea with some concern. Annie put her hand on Azalea's arm, but Azalea did not pull away.

"You okay, honey?" she asked, to which Azalea only shrugged.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Annie continued, but Azalea just shook her head without a word. Annie cast a concerned look to Severus, Angel and Yesmina, and then turned back to Azalea.

"Well, we'll just be over there with the others," she indicated, pointing to the Hog Farm bus and those adults who had decided for whatever reason to not avail themselves of whatever hospitality awaited inside of _Sweet Pepper's_.

After the Silversteins had left, Yesmina climbed inside the van and put her arm around Azalea as DeWard continued to snuggle in Azalea's lap. Severus and Angel sat on the back bumper.

"What's wrong?" Severus again asked. Azalea just snorted.

"Don't you know what this place is?" Angel asked Severus, who turned and looked more closely at the building. But the back of the building offered fewer clues than the front had. It was a rather large brick building, with all the first-story windows in back painted black. Upstairs it looked like there were apartments, as he could see curtains in the windows, and cruelly, quite a few air-conditioning units operating in many of the windows.

"It's a pub, I think," Severus offered. Angel snorted, Azalea crossed her arms on the window and laid her head on them with a sad look on her face, and Yesmina stroked her hair, looking as if she might cry at any moment.

"Yeah, it's also a _whore house_!" Angel exclaimed. Severus was processing this information, trying to decide if he really understood what it meant, when Azalea sat back up, tears in her eyes.

"That ain't the worst of it!" she cried. She was crying as Yesmina usually cried, which scared Severus.

"You see the tracks on his arm?" she demanded, addressing herself to Yesmina and Angel. Angel looked surprised, but Yesmina just nodded.

"Yes, I noticed," she answered. "I didn't want to say anything…"

"What?" Severus demanded, looking from the girls to Angel, who looked surprised. "What are track marks?"

"Mean's he's on horse," Angel whispered, not taking his eyes off of Azalea.

"What horse?" Severus demanded, totally confused. "I didn't see any horse."

"Heroin! Smack!" Azalea spit out. "He a goddamned _addict_"

She almost screamed the last word, and then broke down crying.

" 'zlea!" DeWard murmured in protest, wrapping his arms around her waist and snuggling his nose into her belly as he too started to cry.

Yesmina wrapped her arms around Azalea's shoulders and hugged her; while Yesmina wasn't crying, Severus could see that she was close to doing so.

Angel stood up and angrily kicked one of the rear tires of the van and then stood leaning against the van with his arms crossed, looking as if he'd like to punch something or somebody.

Severus, not knowing what to do or say that would help a situation that he suspected was beyond helping, instead crawled into the van and pulled his knees up to his chin and sat with his arms wrapped around his legs, occasionally glancing at Shadow, who had not moved from the van all this time.

As dusk deepened, Severus could see the neon lights of the other clubs and lounges turning on, and the glow on the sidewalk in front of _Sweet Pepper's_ indicated that they too had turned on their sign.

Both the music and the laughter from inside the club got progressively louder, and occasionally Severus would hear women's laughter that was almost like a scream. Still, not any of them said a word.

"Who are you?"

"Whatchya names?"

Even Azalea jumped.

At the back corner of the van stood two little children; Severus could see that they were younger than he was, he guessed that they were around DeWard's age, perhaps a year or two older.

"Where'dja come from?"

"Why're ya out here?"

"You stayin'?"

They asked questions so quickly that it was impossible to think of an answer before they'd moved on to the next question.

"Who are _you_?" Angel demanded.

"I'm Anise," the girl answered. "This here's my little brother, Basil…"

Azalea and DeWard just stared at the intruders, but Severus noticed that Angel and Yesmina glanced at each other and smiled.

"We live upstairs," Basil offered. "Why you all out here where it's hot?"

"'cuz we got no where else to go!" Azalea finally spoke up. "This here's our van, and we's leavin' first thing in the mornin', so scat!"

Anise and Basil seemed rather used to being told to scat, and just as used to ignoring the command.

"You Roscoe's girl?" Anise demanded. "He say his girl comin' today." She stared at Yesmina and seemed to decide that she couldn't be the one, so Anise turned back to Azalea.

"Yeah, y'must be Roscoe's girl," she decided.

At that moment, Annie came back to the van carrying Judy, which distracted Anise and Basil.

"You gots a baby!" Anise announced, stating the obvious.

"What's its name?" Basil announced.

"Judy," Annie answered somewhat bemused, getting into the front seat with Judy. "Who are you?"

"They're Anise and Basil," Angel offered. "I'm thinking they have another sister or brother called Cilantro…"

While Yesmina tried to hide laughing, Severus wondered what the joke was.

"We ain't got no other brother or sister!" Anise announced. "But momma say if'n she _does_ get one, she namin' it Clover!"

Annie just sat there, her mouth slightly open; Azalea turned to stare at Anise and Basil, and Angel and Yesmina just looked at each other, trying not to laugh.

"You's baby's pretty!" Anise offered, poking her finger into Judy's belly. Judy fussed slightly, kicking her feet and balling up her hands. Basil peered over his sister's shoulder and brushed Judy on the cheek.

"Thank you," Annie answered.

"You sleepin' out here, too?" Anise demanded.

"Yes," Annie answered, "yes we are…"

"It too hot!" Anise scolded. "Yo' baby get heat rash!"

"Well, we'll just make do," Annie answered.

"Okay!" Anise surprisingly announced. "Yo' all take care!"

And with that, she and her brother scrambled back up the fire escape, and through a door on the top floor.

"Strange children!" Annie chuckled, stripping Judy down to just her diaper and laying her on a blanket on the driver's seat, then laying out as much as she could in the passenger's seat and closing her eyes.

It was almost completely dark now, and the other's took Annie's cue, lying as best they could in the back of the van, but while occasionally they'd doze off for a few minutes, it was so hot and humid that it made getting a real sleep impossible. To Severus it seemed as if the heat and humidity had gotten worse since the sun had set, instead of getting better.

Something that Judy eventually found worth complaining about, as she started crying and would not stop, even when Annie changed her nappy.

Severus could hear footsteps coming down the fire escape, but they were too heavy to be Anise and Basil again.

"Hey!" a woman's voice called, just a few inches from Annie's face. Annie, who may or may not have been dozing, sat up with a start.

From the light of the streetlamp and the surrounding neon signs, Severus could see a woman who was extremely curvaceous. Severus had never seen a woman so…so looking like an overstuffed chair. Behind her was another woman, almost as curvaceous as the first.

"I'm Rosemary, Anise and Basil's mom, this here's Blueberry," the first woman said, indicating the woman behind her.

"How can I help you?" Annie asked, sitting up straighter.

"It's too hot out here fer you an' the kids!" Rosemary answered.

"There's room upstairs in our apartment," Blueberry added. "It's air-conditioned…"

Annie was processing this information, which Severus was afraid she was going to refuse, when Benjie came up to the car.

"What's going on, honey?" he asked Annie.

"These women are offering us their apartment to sleep in," Annie answered.

"It's air-conditioned, honey," Rosemary added, but Benjie looked suspicious.

"Listen, honey," Rosemary continued. "You don't have to worry…it's separate from the club, you'd be doing _me_ a favor, ya'all can watch _my_ kids, we both can work…"

She indicated Blueberry and herself.

"…instead of taking turns to baby-sit the kids…"

Benjie looked confused.

"She has a young daughter and a son, Anise and Basil," Annie offered.

"And if she has another kid, it'll be named 'Clover'," Angel chuckled. Rosemary looked surprised.

"Yeah," she answered, smiling. "Or 'Cardamom'…"

Benjie was still hesitating, but Judy's wailing raising quite a few decibels made the decision for them.

"Judy _is_ going to get sick," Annie demurred, scooping up her daughter and the blanket she'd been laying on.

And so Severus found himself trailing behind Rosemary and Blueberry, Benjie and Annie with Judy, Yesmina and DeWard, Azalea (grumbling something about goddamned whores), and Angel as they all climbed the fire-escape to the top floor, carrying blankets and quilts with them, the music from the club drifting up to them.

_I met a gin-soaked barroom queen in Memphis  
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride  
She had to heave me right across her shoulder  
'cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind_

_  
It's the honky tonk, honky tonk women  
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues  
It's the honky tonk, honky tonk women  
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues  
_

The hallway actually reminded Severus of the apartment building at Co-Op City, but Rosemary and Blueberry's apartment was relatively spacious, clean, and blessedly cool, as there was an air-conditioner running in both the living room window, the window of Rosemary and Blueberry's bedroom, and in the bedroom that Anise and Basil shared.

_It's the honky tonk, honky tonk women  
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues  
It's the honky tonk, honky tonk women  
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues _

Anise and Basil were already asleep and seemingly so used to noise at night that they didn't wake up.

Annie and Benjie took Rosemary's offer that they sleep in the master bedroom while Severus and the others could sleep in the living room.

However, as he and the others started laying out their blankets and quilts, a parade of women who worked at _Sweet Pepper's_ started making pilgrimages to the apartment with individual offerings.

So a crib was quickly set up in the bedroom, courtesy of a woman with the improbable name of Maple Sugar.

A woman with Oriental features and going by the name of Five Spice, offered bedding for the crib plus a wind-up mobile toy that hung from one end of the crib.

Catnip, Lemon Blossom, Red Pepper, and Sweet Cicely all in turn brought diapers and baby clothes for Judy, indicating that Annie could keep everything. This was followed by Angelica, Cinnamon, Ginger, Vanilla, and Open Sesame bringing over bedding, clothes, and various snacks and beverages for the other children, before returning to work.

Even Azalea found it difficult to object, although she indicated that she wouldn't wear no whore's clothes, but Severus saw she had no difficulty in eating their food, drinking their beverages, or watching their TV.

Severus found it all rather enjoyable and comfortable.

Except for the cockroaches.

His mother had prided herself on keeping their home roach-free, although she would occasionally have to refresh the spell keeping them out.

There had been roaches where they stayed with Annie and Benjie, but the roaches and the Silversteins had seemed to have worked out some sort of arrangement whereby the roaches stayed mostly at bay, as if both sides had conceded space to the other.

However, here, in Missouri, there were a _lot_ cockroaches. And they were _big_. And they were _mean._

To Severus, who'd swatted a few before starting to join the others in crushing the critters, it was as if the roaches did not care whether the lights were on or off, or whether people were around or not. The roaches ruled.

It was bad enough while they were awake, the bugs coming out and deciding to take their food. Even Azalea conceded that while the apartment was clean, the roaches were probably coming up from the club downstairs.

But after they'd turned off the television and the lights and decided to go to sleep, Severus became obsessed with the idea of the roaches.

Azalea and DeWard, sharing the large couch, didn't seem to be bothered as much, but Severus noticed that Yesmina and Angel, both sleeping on the floor as he was, occasionally flapped their blankets up or swatted at something.

But after he was awakened by a cockroach on his nose, and shortly after dispatching that one having another tickle his toes, Severus quietly retrieved his wand from his satchel, and every time he saw a dark form moving across the floor or someone's blanket, he pointed the wand at it and quietly uttered, _"Stupefy!" _He then took one of his sandals and used it to kill the stunned bug.

This worked for a short time, until Severus realized that no matter how large the pile of _stupefied_ and squashed cockroaches grew, more came after them.

He got up and headed for the bathroom, surreptiously checking on the Silversteins to make sure that they were not being overrun with cockroaches. Reassured that they looked fine, Severus continued on to the bathroom, closing the door behind him before turning on the light.

Strange, he thought to himself, that he could not remember his mother's anti-bug spell. To his way of thinking, there was only one way to take care of the problem once and for all.

"_Accio cockroaches!"_ he proclaimed quietly, before it dawned on him that he had not considered what radius the spell covered.

Roaches started appearing from the drains in the sink and tub, from the openings in the wall where the pipes went through, from under the door, piling up so much that their weight popped the door open a good two or three inches, allowing more to spill into the bathroom.

Severus slammed the toilet seat shut and climbed on top as the number of roaches grew, but then more roaches started spilling in from the light sockets, and he could hear more hitting the outside of the window.

And since they were all alive, there soon was not only almost two feet of writhing roaches on the floor, they also filled the tub and sink, and the walls and ceiling quickly turned black as they were covered with hundreds of the insects.

Severus as a rule did not mind bugs; he in fact found many species of bugs interesting.

And a cockroach per se did not frighten him.

However, Severus Snape was scared. He was more than scared; he was almost petrified with fear, especially when roaches started raining down on him.

Only one spell came to mind. His mother had carefully taught him about the spell. She had just as adamantly stressed that it, along with two others, was considered an "Unforgivable" spell, the use of which could land one in the wizarding prison, Azkaban.

At that moment Severus thought a stint in Azkaban was highly preferable to the situation he currently found himself in.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_ he whispered forcibly, and green light shot out from his wand towards the ceiling, spreading out as licks of green flame over all the cockroaches crawling there.

After brushing the resulting cascade of dead roaches from his hair, Severus then repeated the curse many times, pointing first to the cockroaches at his feet, then killing those that were crawling on the walls, finishing with those in the tub.

He then pushed the bathroom door open enough to squeeze through, saw that there were hundred of roaches outside the door and in the hallway, and quickly dispatched them via the curse.

He again quickly looked into the bedroom where the Silversteins were sleeping, and was glad to see that for whatever reason, no roaches had invaded their space.

Now Severus was faced with the daunting task of getting rid of all the dead cockroaches. He quietly went past the sleeping bodies in the living room, and retrieved a broom and dustpan from the kitchen.

Returning to the bathroom, he started scooping the dead bugs into the dustpan and flushing them down the toilet.

By the eighth flush, he heard Annie calling out, "You okay, Sev?"

"Oh. Yes," he stammered. "I am fine."

However, he knew that if he flushed any more, that Annie would come to check on him.

"_What the FUCK?!"_

Severus turned and saw Angel in the doorway, surveying the thousands of dead cockroaches.

"What the _fuck_ you do, dude?" Angel whispered hoarsely. "That _stupidfy_ shit of yours really works, it made _you_ stupid!"

Severus was surprised that Angel was aware of what he had been doing; he thought all the others were asleep.

"Is anyone else awake except Annie?" Severus demanded.

"Nah," Angel whispered back, rubbing his eyes. "What the _fuck_, dude?"

"I wanted to get rid of the roaches," Severus answered.

"Yeah, well obviously _that_ worked out real well!" Angel answered in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, they _are_ all dead," Snape explained. "But at first I had to get them all here…"

Angel looked at him questioningly.

"So I did a spell called _accio_ to bring them all here," Severus finished. "It's the same spell I used that first day we met, to get all that food I had with me…"

"Dude…you have any idea just how many _cucarachas_ there'd be in this neighborhood?"

Severus looked down at his feet, sheepishly.

"I didn't think about that until _after_ I'd done it," he admitted.

Angel surveyed the scene of destruction, and let out a soft whistle.

"How'd you kill them all?"

"I can't tell you," Severus answered. "It's a bad spell. We're not supposed to use it. We can go to jail for using it."

"For killing _cucarachas_?" Angel demanded incredulously. "Well, no one is knocking down the door to come arrest you…how you gonna get rid of all these?"

Severus just looked at him and then shrugged his shoulders. Angel sighed and turned around, and a few minutes later came back with an armful of paper sacks.

"Here," he stated, handing the bags to Severus. "We can sweep them into these bags, and then dump the bags."

Severus was glad that Angel took on the job of sweeping and scooping the bugs into the sacks, and in less than 15 minutes, all the dead bugs were inside the paper bags.

"Where should we dump them?" Angel asked. Severus thought a moment, and then opened the bathroom window.

There were no longer any cockroaches trying to get in the window, but when Severus looked down, he could make out a small pile of something immediately below the window. He pulled his head in and turned to Angel.

"Why don't we just dump them out the widow?" he asked, to which Angel just shrugged and then stepped up with a bag, and tilted it out the window. He handed the empty bag to Severus, who handed Angel the next full bag. They soon had emptied all the bags.

"Well if nothing else," Angel observed, helping Severus to flatten the sacks, "you could make a _lot _of money as an exterminator!"

Angel seemed to think that that was a highly desirable profession.

"Hey," he explained, "people always got bugs!"

He and Severus quietly slipped back under their quilts, Severus glad that no one else had awakened.

"You strange!" Azalea announced. Severus looked over and saw her and DeWard staring at him. He glanced over at Yesmina and saw that she was smiling at him.

"Well, at least no one will have to worry about bugs crawling on them," Severus explained, pulling his quilt up and turning away.

"Sev's gonna be Magic Man Exterminating when he grows up!" Angel chuckled before he too pulled his quilt up and turned to go to sleep.

"You still strange," Azalea mumbled, putting her arm around DeWard and turning away.

* * *

The next morning they had a breakfast with Anise and Basil of cereal and cold milk with juice. Rosemary and Blueberry insisted that Annie keep the baby clothes she'd been given, and indeed before they could return to the van and get back on the road, they'd also been given many used children's clothes belonging to the children of the women who worked at _Sweet Pepper's_.

Mr. Wanetta was standing a few feet from the van as they approached it. Azalea showed no indication that she was going to acknowledge that her father was there, but Annie urged her to say goodbye to him.

As he climbed into the back of the van, Severus noticed a couple of kids and a few of the women who worked and lived at _Sweet Pepper's_ gathering around the large pile of cockroaches under Rosemary and Blueberry's bathroom window.

Annie gave Angel a cassette tape to play, and he obligingly set it into his birthday gift.

_What is a youth: impetuous fire;  
What is a maid: ice and desire;  
The world wags on, _

_A rose will bloom, it then will fade;  
So does the youth,  
So does the fairest maid;_

"That's a different version," Annie mused.

Severus couldn't hear what Azalea's father was saying to her; Mr. Wanetta seemed to be apologizing for something, but Azalea just stared at her feet and shrugged. Finally, she sighed and returned the hug her father gave her, and as she turned and started getting into the van, he pressed something into her hand.

_Caper the caper, sing me the song,  
Death will come soon to hush us along;  
Sweeter than honey, bitter than gull,  
Love is the past time that will never pull._

_Sweeter than honey, bitter than gull,  
Cupid he rules us all _

"Take it, baby," he said to her. "Give some to yo' momma when yo' sees her, tell her I still love her!"

Azalea took what her father offered and jammed it into a pocket of her shorts. Mr. Wanetta gave her one last hug and kissed her on the forehead, and Azalea begrudgingly kissed him on his cheek before getting into the van without a word.

"You be good, baby!" he called out as Benjie started backing the van out. "You mind these people, don't cause dem no trouble!"

He continued to wave as they pulled out of the lot, but Azalea did not return the gesture.

_A time for us, some day there'll be  
When chains are torn by courage  
__Born of a love that's free  
_

Azalea turned and looked at Severus, and then retrieved what she had jammed into her pocket, counting out two $20 bills and handing them to Severus.

"I told you I'd pay you back," she announced, putting the rest of the money back into her pocket and looking out the window.

_And with our love, through tears and thorns  
We will endure as we pass surely through every storm  
A time for us, some day there'll be a new world  
A world of shining hope for you and me  
_

Severus was rather pleased. They not only still had Azalea with them, now they were heading down to the land of milk-and-honey she'd described, the place called Louisiana.

_A world of shining hope for you and me_

By the time they were pulling back onto the Interstate, Severus was in such a golden glow of ecstacy that he took off all his clothes and ran naked down the Interstate next to the van.

* * *

_Yeah, I'm gonna tell my tale come on,  
Come on, give a listen_

_'Cause I was born lonely down by the riverside  
Learned to spin fortune __wheels__, and throw dice  
And I was just thirteen when I had to leave __home__  
Knew I couldn't stick around, I had to roam_

_  
Ain't __good looking__, but you know I ain't shy  
Ain't afraid to look a girl in the eye  
So if you need some lovin', and you need it right away  
Take a little time out, and maybe I'll stay  
_

_CHORUS:  
But I got to ramble  
(ramblin' man)  
Oh I got to gamble  
(gamblin' man)  
Got to got to ramble  
(ramblin' man)  
I was born a ramblin' gamblin' man _

_Yeah yeah yeah  
Yeah alright here we go now now_

_  
I'm out of __money__, 'cause you know I need some  
I ain't around to __love you__ now, and I gotta run  
Gotta keep movin', never gonna slow down  
You can have your funky world, see you 'round_

_(repeat chorus)_

**RAMBLIN' GAMBLIN' MAN  
**Bob Seger  
1969

* * *

_I met a gin-soaked barroom queen in Memphis  
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride  
She had to heave me right across her shoulder  
'cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind_

_  
It's the honky tonk, honky tonk women  
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues  
It's the honky tonk, honky tonk women  
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues_

_  
I laid a divorcee in New York City  
I had to put up some kind for a fight  
The lady then she covered me with roses  
She blew my nose and then she blew my mind_

_  
It's the honky tonk, honky tonk women  
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues  
It's the honky tonk, honky tonk women  
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues _

**HONKY TONK WOMEN  
**The Rolling Stones  
1969

* * *

_What is a youth: impetuous fire;  
What is a maid: ice and desire;  
The world wags on, _

_A rose will bloom, it then will fade;  
So does the youth,  
So does the fairest maid;_

_  
Comes a time when one sweet smile  
Hasn't seasoned for awhile;  
Then loves in love with me;  
Some they only think to marry,  
Others will tease and tarry,  
Mine is the very best parry;  
Cupid he rules us all; _

_  
Caper the caper, sing me the song,  
Death will come soon to hush us along;  
Sweeter than honey, bitter than gull,  
Love is the past time that will never pull.  
Sweeter than honey, bitter than gull,  
Cupid he rules us all _

_  
repeat:  
A rose will bloom, it then will fade  
So does the youth,  
So does the fairest maid  
_

**LOVE THEME TO ROMEO AND JULIET  
**Henry Mancini  
1969

* * *

_A time for us, some day there'll be  
When chains are torn by courage  
Born of a love that's free  
A time when dreams so long denied can flourish  
As we unveil the love we now must hide  
A time for us, at last to see  
A life worthwhile for you and me_

_And with our love, through tears and thorns  
We will endure as we pass surely through every storm  
A time for us, some day there'll be a new world  
A world of shining hope for you and me_

_For you and me_

_And with our love, through tears and thorns  
We will endure as we pass surely through every storm  
A time for us, some day there'll be a new world  
A world of shining hope for you and me_

_A world of shining hope for you and me_

**LOVE THEME TO ROMEO AND JULIET  
**Johnny Mathis  
1969


	24. Ch 22 Easy To Be Hard Aug30Aug31'69

_**CHAPTER 22 - Easy To Be Hard  
(Saturday/Sunday - August 30-31, 1969**_

_**.  
**_

_**

* * *

**_

**WARNING: Contains racial epithets, and taking the Lord's name in vain**

* * *

.

_Any place it goes is right  
Goes far, flies near  
To the stars away from here_

_.  
_

He had been running naked next to the van for some time, but suddenly he realized that he was actually flying.

Sometimes he was flying on one side of the van, other times he was flying over it, and then he found himself flying on the opposite side.

_Well, you don't know what we can find  
Why don't you come with me little girl  
On a magic carpet ride_

_.  
_

Severus waved to the people in the van, but only Yesmina waved back…no one else seemed to be paying attention to him, except for Shadow, who Severus could see was standing up against the window closest to him, watching.

_You don't know what we can see  
Why don't you tell your dreams to me?  
Fantasy will set you free_

_Last night I held Aladdin's lamp  
And so I wished that I could stay  
Before the thing could answer me  
Well, someone came and took the lamp away_

_.  
_

Suddenly he found himself back inside the van, with no knowledge of how he got there. Azalea was pinching his upper arm.

"_Ouch!_" Severus complained.

"_You be trippin'!_" Azalea whispered vehemently, but she looked more afraid than angry.

_I looked around; a lousy candle's all I found_

_.  
_

Severus noticed that Angel and DeWard were also looking at him with some concern, as Yesmina and Shadow were turning from the window. Yesmina just smiled at Sev, while Shadow stared at him. Annie and Benjie seemed oblivious to anything unusual.

"I was flying," Severus explained, looking at Yesmina. She just smiled and nodded.

_Well, you don't know what we can find  
Why don't you come with me little girl  
On a magic carpet ride?_

Azalea punched Sev's arm.

"_Ouch!_" he complained once again, this time more loudly.

_Well, you don't know what we can see  
Why don't you tell your dreams to me?  
Fantasy will set you free_

_.  
_

"Azalea, honey," Annie called back to them without turning around, "please don't hit others…"

"He bein' stupid, Annie!" Azalea offered. Annie and Benjie both chuckled.

"Hitting people doesn't make them any smarter!" Benjie offered. "Try talking your differences out…"

_Close your eyes, girl  
Look inside girl  
Let the sound take you away_

_.  
_

Azalea did not look convinced that this tactic would be any more effective than her usual one; she just glared at Sev, who stuck his tongue out at her and then looked out the window. He realized that even though they were still on the highway, that they were hardly moving.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Just outside St. Louis," Benjie answered.

"We're still in Missouri," Angel added, seeing Sev's perplexed look. "It's a holiday weekend, so lotsa people are on the road, we're in a traffic jam…"

Since the van was barely moving, it made it all the more hot and muggy.

They drank some cold soda from the cooler, Yesmina helped DeWard color in one of the coloring books he had, and Angel read the sports section of the newspaper that Benjie had bought earlier that morning.

"So…we'll be seeing your family tonight," Severus commented to Azalea, who was staring out a window.

"Hmmm," she answered distractedly.

"Maybe not until tomorrow," Benjie offered. "Not with this traffic…"

Severus was disappointed. Azalea had made Louisiana sound so wonderful that he could hardly wait to get there. However, Azalea did not seem disappointed at Benjie's news, and Severus wondered why.

"What do you think your Granny will make when we first get there?" he asked.

"Huh?" Azalea asked, turning from the window. "What?"

"What do you think your Granny will make? You said she is a good cook, she will be sure to want to make something special for your return!"

Sev was really hoping that Granny would make them _all _something special to eat.

"Oh, depends," was all Azalea said. After a pause she added, " 'pends on what time of day…if'n we'd gotten there tonight, she'd make us supper. If'n we don't get there until tomorrow, maybe dinner, maybe supper…"

After her previous eloquent listings of all the grand and exotic foods that would greet them in Louisiana, Severus found Azalea's present mood odd.

Annie and Benjie had tried to phone Azalea's grandmother before they'd left Mexico, but there had been no answer. Sev wondered if that was what was bothering Azalea.

Severus gave up trying to talk to her, and picked up the rest of the newspaper. He did not understand the news on the first pages, nor did he find the articles on local happenings of any interest. He settled on the comics section.

They were just reaching a town called "Caruthersville" when Sev turned the comic page into a paper fan to cool himself off. Everyone else thought this a wonderful idea, and soon everyone except Benjie had a newspaper fan.

Traffic eased up as they turned east onto another highway and crossed the Mississippi River into Tennessee. Benjie pointed to a boat on the river that had a big wheel in back, explaining that it was an old-fashioned paddlewheel boat. Then he, Annie, Angel and Yesmina all started singing, "_Rolling…rolling…rolling on the riverboat!_", DeWard adding a deep bass, "_…on the riverboat!_" at the end, and everyone laughed.

Except for Sev, who did not get the joke. And Azalea, who faintly smiled and turned to pensively look out the window again, slowly fanning herself.

They stopped for gas and to stretch their legs; Benjie and Annie again helped Azalea to phone her grandmother, and again there was no answer.

Once they had resumed driving there was nothing of much interest to see, so Yesmina and DeWard lay down to take a nap. Since he was hot and tired, and even more so since he had been up the night before killing cockroaches, Severus decided that it was a good idea, and was soon asleep himself.

When he awoke the sun was in the west, and Benjie said that they had just gone through a place called "Dyersburg", and that it had been decided to stay overnight at a state park near Millington, adding that it was outside of Memphis. This seemed to have some meaning to the others, but Severus had absolutely no idea where they were, or how close they now were to Louisiana.

Azalea was still sitting in the same place, gazing out the window. Severus wondered if she had moved at all.

They pulled off at another rest stop, and when Severus got back to the van, he saw Yesmina and Azalea already inside, talking.

Yesmina smiled at him as he got into the back of the van, and for some reason Azalea seemed more relaxed than she had been all day.

"Where's Angel?" she demanded.

"He's coming…he's with DeWard," Severus answered, even though it seemed it should have been obvious, as Angel and DeWard at that moment came walking up to the van.

Angel also had a paper sack, and when he got into the back of the van, he showed that it was full of cold soda.

"Thanks, Angel," Azalea stated, taking a cola. Angel paused and then glanced from Severus to Yesmina, but no one said anything.

Benjie and Annie returned, Benjie lugging two bags of ice, and Annie carrying Judy.

"There was still no answer, hon," Annie told Azalea as she got back into the van. Sev wasn't sure what the look on Azalea's face meant.

Benjie dumped the melted water out of the cooler and added the two bags of ice. Jack came up with another bag, and took out eggs, butter, and milk, which he placed into the cooler before putting the paper sack next to it. Sev could see that there were two boxes of cornflake cereal, a loaf of bread, a jar of jam, and a box of what looked like frosted cupcakes. But before anyone could grab those, Annie warned them,

"Why don't you wait until we make camp and then you can have the cupcakes for dessert after we eat."

Severus had not eaten since breakfast, and he was hungry. But somehow he also knew that at this point they all were costing the Silversteins money, and that there was not a lot to go around. He was all too familiar with that situation.

He contented himself with some of the fruit the Temples had given them.

Azalea joined them in playing cards, but Sev saw that he was not the only one who noticed that she did not seem as animated as usual. For that matter, the Silversteins were also subdued.

Just before six o'clock they reached a state park; there was a problem with getting adjacent spots for the van and the bus due to the holiday crowd, but finally it was agreed that the two vehicles could park in one space as long as they paid for two spaces.

There was no stream nearby, but they had lucked out in getting a space that had a water tap.

Once parked, Azalea grabbed Yesmina's hand and they both went off to find the lavoratories. Angel suggested that Sev and DeWard join him in exploring the site. Shadow, who'd kept to one corner of the van all afternoon, jumped out after Sev and followed the boys.

This park was much more crowded than the one they had stayed at in Pennsylvania. Sev saw cars and pickup trucks and caravans parked one next to another for the 10 minutes or so that they walked about.

For months Sev had deferred to Angel and the others regarding how Americans acted, but this time he felt the familiar, unpleasant feeling he always felt at home when he had to interact with Muggles.

They were outsiders to these people. More than that, they were considered odd…strange…_wrong_.

Severus sensed that Angel felt it too, and if Shadow had hackles, they seemed to be raised.

"Dint know they let niggas heeya!" Sev heard some man say.

"Come on," Angel muttered softly, grasping DeWard's hand, "let's go back."

They turned onto a path that Angel thought might be a shortcut, but they'd only gone a short way when they were blocked by four white boys who looked to be about 11 or 12 years old.

"Watchoo nigga boys doin' here, huh?" one of them, whom Sev assumed was their leader, demanded.

"Nothin' " Angel demurred. His reaction surprised Severus.

"Just going back to our camp," Angel added.

"This place was nicer 'fore they started letting' niggas in, dontcha think, boys?" The ringleader glanced around at his cronies, who all chuckled in agreement.

"Where you nigga boys from, anyways?" Ringleader drawled, strolling up to them. "You don't sound like y'all from around heeya…"

"We're not," Angel answered, "we're just passing through…"

Ringleader fingered Severus' hair.

"Mighty fine hair for a nigga," he stated, grabbing a hank and yanking it so hard that it jerked Severus' head.

"He isn't a Negro," Angel exclaimed. "Neither am I…"

"Heeya that, boys?" Ringleader asked, slightly turning his head to his friends. "These two sez they ain't niggas!"

Ringleader turned back to Sev, who'd started to slowly reach into his satchel for his wand, wondering what sort of hex or curse he could cast on these tormentors.

"Where _you_ from, boy?" Ringleader demanded.

"I am from England," Severus answered, grasping his wand but not retrieving it.

This answer, and Sev's accent, surprised the other boys.

"You from England," Ringleader drawled. "Guess they don't got no niggas there…but you sure dark enough to be one!"

Sev took his free arm and raised it next to Ringleader's; there was barely a difference in color. Ringleader laughed.

"Yeah, guess you got a tan just like me," he stated, turning to Angel. "So what are you?"

"Puerto Rican," Angel answered. The others guffawed.

"Rican's just another kinda nigga!" Ringleader exclaimed, turning to DeWard. "And don't try to tell me _this_ ain't no pickaninny!"

"Shut the fuck up, you mutha-fuckin' _cracker_!"

They all turned to where the voice came from, and Sev saw Azalea and Yesmina where another path joined the one they were on.

"More niggas!" one of Ringleader's buddies exclaimed.

Severus at first sensed, and then actually saw, flames surrounding Azalea, much as he had seen back at Woodstock. But he also sensed fear coming from her, as it was from Yesmina, who was almost cowering behind her friend.

"You leave him _alone_!" Azalea screamed. Severus noticed that the other boys, including Ringleader, were intimidated by her.

"This your pickaninny, girlie?" Ringleader demanded. "Must be one of those N-A-A-C-P meetin's goin' on 'round heeya, boys, y'think?"

Ringleader chuckled as his friends agreed, but Severus noticed he actually seemed nervous. Ringleader turned his attention to Yesmina.

"Hey, blondie…what's a nice white gal doin' with these niggas?"

He reached out and grabbed a hank of Yesmina's hair, slowly fingering it before Azalea slapped his hand away.

It all happened so fast after that. Severus pulled out his wand as Angel yelled, " 'lea, _NO_!"

Ringleader (or was it one of his buddies?) bellowed in outrage about a "nigga hittin' a white", and Ringleader made a fist, pulling his arm back to hit Azalea, who had both of her fists balled, ready to fight back.

Shadow roared. At least Severus thought it was roaring…it was much more than growling, but no one else seemed to hear it.

Shadow sprung at Ringleader, passing through him. Sev thought that Ringleader looked as if a stunning curse had just been cast on him.

Ringleader stumbled backwards in a daze as Shadow landed on the other side of the path and whirled back around, ready to attack again if necessary. Severus noticed that Yesmina glanced in Shadow's direction.

"_What's going on?_"

Benjie came running up with Jack and another man Sev only knew as "Pumper".

"Uh, nothing…" Ringleader stammered, backing up to rejoin his friends. "We were just going…"

Jack and Pumper towered over the boys, who retreated, one of them muttering something about, "Niggas, spics, now _Jews_!"

"You okay, hon?" Benjie asked Azalea, putting his arm around her shoulders. Azalea unclenched her fists, but said nothing. Her shoulders were heaving, and Sev wondered if she was about to start crying.

"We ran into some of them at the restrooms," Yesmina explained.

Severus glanced back at where their tormentors were retreating, still watched by Jack and Pumper. He slipped his wand back into his satchel, and for some reason put his hand on DeWard's shoulder. DeWard looked up at him with a tear-stained face, and then grasped Severus' hand in his own.

"Well, we're in the South," Benjie sighed, putting his other arm around Yesmina and guiding both girls onto the path back to their camp. "We have to be careful."

Azalea kept grumbling about "Fuckin' crackers!", and Sev remembered the story she'd told him about white boys taunting her and pushing her into the swamp when she lived with her grandmother.

"What sort of place _is_ this 'South'?" he whispered to Angel, who'd taken DeWard's other hand. They were walking behind Benjie and the girls, and were followed by Jack and Pumper, with Shadow trailing behind them, a wary eye cast to both sides of the path.

"A whole other world," Angel answered. "We gotta be careful; they kill people down here for being different…"

They got back to their camp without incident, but Severus noticed that everyone was anxious, although they did their best to put on a cheerful façade.

They had hotdogs and potato chips for supper, and as the children finally received the cupcakes for dessert, Sev heard Benjie and the other men discussing setting up a guard for the camp that night, and who would take what shift.

The children bedded down in the van; Azalea started wheezing, grabbing her inhaler from her bag and taking large gulps. Severus realized that it was the first time she'd needed it in months.

As they started to fall asleep, a few members of the commune started playing guitars and singing.

_How can people be so heartless  
How can people be so cruel?  
Easy to be hard  
Easy to be cruel_

_.  
_

Eventually they were joined by other campers, some with guitars, one with a banjo, a woman who played something called a dulcimer, and quite a few others with just their voices.

As Severus drifted off to sleep, he thought that he could feel the anxiety and tension leaving everyone in camp. This opinion was confirmed when Shadow, who had been sitting at alert at the back door of the van, finally made a sound that to Severus sounded like a cross between a snort and a sigh, and then lay down next to him.

Sev and the others were awakened early the next morning by Benjie, who explained that they needed to get an early start.

They had breakfast, and were accompanied to the restrooms and back by Jack, Pumper, and another member of the commune with the name "Rockin' Rye", but no one bothered them.

As they were leaving the park they stopped at the entrance to use a payphone to call Azalea's grandmother, but again there was no answer.

"Maybe she's at church, hon," Annie offered, more as question, as she and Azalea got back into the van. Azalea just shrugged and mumbled, "Maybe", before falling silent.

Benjie had bought a newspaper, and Severus was surprised to find that it had a separate comics section all in color, which he and Yesmina helped DeWard to read.

Angel again concentrated on the sports section, while Azalea disinterestedly flipped through the fashion section and the supplements for local department and clothing stores.

At each rest stop they attempted to phone Azalea's grandmother, but there continued to be no answer. Just outside Hammond, Louisiana, Annie had even asked the phone operator to check that the line was in service, and had been assured that it was.

The Silverstein's van was now leading the commune bus, as Azalea started to give Benjie directions. Annie, Yesmina, and even Severus occasionally tried to engage Azalea in conversation, or to participate in playing a game, but Azalea demurred, and instead folded her arms on the back of Annie's seat and focused on the road ahead.

They reached the town of Opelousas just before 6 p.m., Azalea directing Benjie on what turns to make. They were in a neighborhood of small, neat, narrow, mostly one-story houses that Benjie stated were called "shotgun" style. Azalea was visibly nervous when they turned onto the street her grandmother's house was on, and she was silent when Benjie pulled up in front of the house.

Severus and the other children all crowded at the windows to look at the house. It was painted a light blue with white trim, and had a porch on which there was a rocking chair and a potted palm. On the edge of the porch's roof hung a couple of baskets of bright pink and red flowers, and the bottom of the porch, and the walkway leading to it, was lined with plants with large green leaves and small purple and white flowers.

There was a wreath of dried flowers hung on the front door, and hanging from the wreath was a wooden sign painted in bright colors with the name "Underhill" painted on it.

"I made that for Granny 'fore I left," Azalea said softly, and Severus saw that her eyes were unnaturally bright.

No one said anything, and they sat for some moments, as if perhaps hoping someone inside would notice them and come out.

But all was quiet. Severus had the distinct feeling that no one was home.

"Come on, hon," Annie suggested, turning to Azalea. "Let's go knock on the door."

Nothing was said to the others, but Severus knew that it was understood that they should remain in the van. Annie handed Judy to Yesmina as Benjie turned the motor off, and he joined his wife and Azalea in climbing the steps up to the porch. Annie was the one who rang the doorbell.

They stood there for some moments, and then Annie rang the doorbell again. After another few moments, Benjie rapped on the door.

When it was obvious that no one was coming to the door, Benjie, joined by Jack, walked around the side of the house and then called back, "There's no car here!"

"It doesn't look like a farm to me," Sev whispered. Yesmina and Angel just shrugged, while DeWard looked confused.

Azalea was stroking the name plaque, and Sev thought that it looked like she was ready to cry. Benjie and Jack came back from around the side of the house, and a quiet conversation ensued between the adults and Azalea which the others could not hear.

Severus looked around; across the street was a school yard with swings in the distance, and a baseball field close by. Severus knew that Angel would love to play baseball, but he also knew that this was not the time to suggest a game.

Some of the members of the commune were stretching their legs, leaning against their bus, and a few people who were walking by stared at them and their brightly painted vehicles.

Then Sev noticed a bus stop at the corner ahead of them, and a woman who got off of it walked towards them on the sidewalk, looking at them quizzically.

She paused as she reached Granny's house, obviously uneasy about passing the van and the bus. She noticed the adults on the porch, but when she saw Azalea, Severus saw a flicker in her eyes.

"Can I help you?" she asked, not moving from the sidewalk.

"We're looking for Mrs. Underhill," Annie answered her. "Do you know when she'll be back?

"Sapphire?" the woman asked, turning from Annie to Azalea. "You Azalea, girl?"

Azalea perked up at hearing her name, and looked at the woman intently.

"Yes'm" she answered. "I'm Azalea Wanetta, Mrs. Underhill's granddaughter."

The woman smiled broadly, opened her arms wide, and ran up the sidewalk before wrapping Azalea in her arms and squeezing her in them.

"I _thought_ you looked familiar, girl!" the woman exclaimed. "But y'all grow'd like a tree since'n I last saw you!"

It was like a light bulb turning on over Azalea's head, Severus thought, just like he'd seen in some of the comics.

"I remember you, you're Mrs. Soarse!" she exclaimed, grinning. "You live next door!"

Azalea pointed to the house to the right.

Annie, Benjie, and Jack all in turn shook Mrs. Soarse's hand.

"Do you know when Mrs. Underhill will be coming home?" Annie asked again. Mrs. Soarse's face became serious. Severus glanced at Yesmina and Angel, and they too looked worried.

"She not here," Mrs. Soarse answered, not to Severus' surprise, but Azalea looked crestfallen.

"What happened?" she exclaimed breathlessly, and Severus wondered if she was going to have an asthma attack.

"Camille what happened, chile!" Mrs. Soarse answered, garnering questioning looks from Azalea and the adults.

"It doesn't seem to have done much damage here," Benjie mused.

"No," Mrs. Soarse agreed. "It went east. Hit Mississip' real bad…"

She turned to Azalea.

"Almost alls yo' folks from there, 'cludin' yo' Mama, lost everythin'," she explained. "They's all stayin' at yo' granny's ol' farm, the one in Terrebonne Parish she gave to her cousin…that's where Sapphire's at, she helpin' 'em out…"

She fished around in her handbag, and took out a key.

"Your granny left me with the spare key, I go in every evenin' and shut the curtains and turns on lights," she explained. "Then I come in the mornin' and closes the lights and open curtains…I'm also keeping whatever mail comes, 'tho Sapphire told the post office to forward her mail to Theriot. And I dust and vacuum for her once a week."

She handed the key to Azalea.

"If you want to go in and check, just make sure you give me the key back 'fore you leave."

"Do you have a phone number where Mrs. Underhill can be reached?" Benjie asked.

"Yes," Mrs. Soarse answered. "It's in my house, I'll be right back."

She went into her house as Azalea slowly approached her grandmother's door and unlocked it. The door swung open, but she paused and then turned back to the van, and gestured that the others should join her.

They gladly scrambled out of the hot van, Yesmina carefully carrying Judy. They paused at the front door, allowing Azalea to be the first to enter.

Even though the house had been closed up, it was still cooler than outside. It was very neat, with simple furniture, most of which were covered with sheets as if their owner expected to be gone for some time.

Azalea walked down the hallway, and stopped at a room at the very end. The others peered inside, and Severus saw a sewing machine and a rocking chair by one window, and a pretty daybed under another.

"This used to be my bedroom," Azalea stated, before turning to the room to the right. "This is the bathroom."

She walked back down the hall as Mrs. Soarse came up to the front door. She spoke with the Silversteins, handing them a piece of paper.

Yesmina used the bathroom first, after handing Judy back to Annie. Severus looked in the kitchen, hoping perhaps to find something cold to drink in the refrigerator, but was disappointed to see that it had been turned off and its door propped open, empty of all contents.

As the rest of them waited for their turn for the bathroom, the Silversteins sequestered themselves with Azalea behind closed doors in her grandmother's bedroom, and while Severus couldn't make out what was being said, it was obvious they'd succeeded in getting someone to answer the phone number Mrs. Soarse had given them.

Severus wandered into the small living room, and was amazed at the number of photographs that covered not only the walls, but almost every square inch of surface space.

Some of the pictures were very old, especially one large picture of a bride and groom that hung in the middle of the wall. Surrounding it were more recent pictures, including wedding pictures of other couples, and many pictures of children that spanned decades.

Sev was drawn to one more recent picture, of a little girl of about six or seven, which looked like it had been done professionally. The little girl looked familiar.

"That's Azalea!" Yesmina laughed, coming up behind Severus and startling him.

"No!" Sev exclaimed, turning from Yesmina back to the picture of the gawky little girl in a frilly pink dress and a ridiculously large pink satin bow in her hair.

"What's that on her teeth?" he asked.

"Braces," Yesmina answered. "To straighten her teeth."

"That had to be a school portrait!" Angel observed, coming up with DeWard in tow. DeWard looked at the picture, overwhelmed.

"This is her, too," Yesmina chuckled, pointing out a picture in a frame on a table beneath the portrait on the wall. Severus looked at it intently.

The little girl in the picture looked slightly younger than the one on the wall, and she was wearing what seemed to be a frilly dress of white organdy, over which was a coat in navy blue. She was also wearing white gloves, white socks and white patent leather shoes, and what seemed to be a hat, although Severus was not sure that it might not have been some large exotic white flower.

A very smartly dressed woman, also wearing gloves and a very flattering hat, had Azalea's hand clasped in her own. The woman was smiling broadly at the camera, her hat shading her eyes from the bright sun, but the little girl had a deep frown.

"That's probably her mother," Yesmina observed. Before they could explore any more of the pictures, the bedroom door opened and Azalea came out with Annie and Benjie. Azalea noticed the others in the living room and joined them.

"You makin' fun o' my pictures?" she asked, confirming that it was indeed her image in the photos.

"Was that one taken for school?" Angel asked, pointing to the one on the wall. Azalea nodded.

"I hated that dress!" she laughed. "I hated that picture!"

"You must hate this dress, too," DeWard stated, pointing at the other picture. Azalea picked it up.

"I actually really liked that dress," she mused. "The sun was in my eyes, that's why I'm frowning…"

"Did you like that hat?" Angel asked incredulously. Severus thought that Azalea would hit or kick him like she usually did, but she just smiled at the picture and then put it down.

"It was Easter," she explained. "Had to wear a hat to church, you know. And yeah, I think I really liked the hat back then…but it sure does look funky now!"

"Is that your mother?" Severus asked. Azalea stared at the picture.

"Yeah, that's my mom," she stated. "That's how she looked back then…"

"Okay, we need to hit the road if we're going to get there tonight!" Annie exclaimed. Benjie had a sheet of paper with notes written on it.

The Silversteins herded the children out of the house, making sure to turn on the lights and close the curtains for Mrs. Soarse, before locking the house. As they walked down the steps, they saw that many of the commune members were gathered on Mrs. Soarse's porch, drinking lemonade.

"Come have a cold drink before you leave!" she told them, and the children gladly accepted.

"Did you get a hold of your grandmother?" she asked Azalea, pouring her a glass of lemonade. Azalea nodded.

"Talked to her and Mama," Azalea answered, taking a gulp. "They're waitin' up for us."

"Thank you so much for your help," Benjie gushed, shaking Mrs. Soarse's hand and giving her the key. "And thank you for the lemonade!"

Mrs. Soarse tickled Judy on her cheek as the rest headed back to their vehicles.

"You take care now," she stated, to both Annie and Azalea. "Tell Sapphire I miss her, and I hope she can come back soon! But I'll take care of things for her 'til then!"

They finished their goodbyes, got back into the van, and then Benjie again led the way.

"I didn't recognize her at first," Azalea stated. "Mrs. Soarse. She's lost a lot of weight, she look real good now. She used to watch me if Granny had to work when I wasn't in school…"

They headed south from Opelousas, and about half an hour later they turned onto a highway heading southeast. The drive was longer than Sev had hoped; Azalea told them that it would be about two hours before they got to their destination.

It got more humid the farther they went, and once they got through the city of Lafayette, Severus thought the plants and trees looked almost tropical. There was definitely more moss hanging from the trees than they'd seen to this point, and Azalea confirmed that they were now entering what was known as "bayou country". She had to explain to Severus that a bayou was a swamp.

When they'd reached a city called Houma, they got off the highway and headed south. They'd been on this road for about 20 minutes, and Severus noticed that it not only was very rural, but the buildings were extremely run down, even the houses. He wondered what Azalea's grandmother's farm was going to be like.

They traveled for another 15 or 20 minutes; Azalea was keeping a sharp eye on the road, as it was now dusk, but she recognized the correct turnoff to reach her grandmother's farm.

It was a long dirt road, and Severus realized that in some ways it was very similar to the approach to the Temple's farm in Indiana.

Finally, just after 8:30 Azalea exclaimed, "There it is!" She eagerly pointed to a house off to the left.

Benjie pulled up in front of it, and the commune bus parked behind them. Severus looked closely in the dusk, and saw a large farmhouse some yards back from the road. It was obviously very old, and did not look as well-cared-for as the Temple's house. Neither did it have the number of out-buildings as the Indiana farm.

The house did have a much bigger porch than the Temple's, this porch spanned the whole front of the house and wrapped around both sides. There was a building that looked like a small barn off to the far left, and a smaller building in back between the two.

Across the street seemed to be a small field, but it was surrounded by tall oaks dripping with moss, and indeed the rest of the street farther down seemed to be all uncultivated.

Between the house and the barn there were many cars, a few tents, one trailer, and a pickup truck with something on its back that looked like it had been designed for sleeping.

Indeed, Sev could just make out a couple of people inside this contraption; and some people came out of the trailer and the tents to look at them. There was also a fairly large group of children standing in the entrance of the barn.

Annie and Benjie got out of the van with Azalea, Annie this time taking Judy with her. Again, the others understood that they should remain behind.

As the three walked towards the house, Severus could see an elderly woman and a middle-aged woman come out onto the porch.

"That's Pearl's chile," Severus heard muttered somewhere from the growing darkness. "_That's_ Azalea?" he heard one of the older children ask.

Severus assumed that the two women who came out of the house were Azalea's mother and grandmother, which was soon confirmed when he saw first the younger woman give Azalea a big hug and kiss her, and then the older woman did the same.

They all went into the house, and Yesmina, Angel and DeWard sat back, sighing.

"That seemed to go well," Angel observed. But Severus remained silent. He was remembering what Azalea had told him weeks ago at the concert. He knew that the happy reunion would not remain so for long.

There were lights on in the house, and a few lights in the tents, in the trailer, and a spotlight mounted outside the barn. But night fell quickly; the people in the commune bus remained on the bus, and for once were relatively quiet. And the people outside were also quiet, in fact Severus noticed that a couple of them who had been sitting on the porch got up and left the porch. Some people stared at the van and bus in curiosity, but no one from one group said anything to the other. Finally the sounds of a radio wafted softly from the bus to the van.

At first Severus could hear animated voices from within the house, although the actual words could not be made out. By the tone of the voices, it was obvious that the Silversteins were explaining how Azalea came to live with them, and Severus guessed that Azalea's mother and grandmother were explaining about the hurricane and the current living arrangements.

But after awhile the voices got low; Severus could barely make out first Benjie, and then Annie, saying something. There was a pause; it was as if the group inside had gone mute, but Severus then decided that Azalea was probably telling her story, and that she was speaking in a low voice.

This was confirmed when a shreik emanated from the house, so loud and pathetic that everyone started, even the people on the property outside, who all looked at the house and mumbled amongst themselves.

"_Oh, Jesus!_" Azalea's mother Pearl wailed. "_Oh, Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus help me! Help me! Help me! Help me!_" And then she continued shreiking.

Angel, Yesmina, and DeWard all looked like the blood had drained out of their bodies; they sat frozen, Yesmina's eyes so wide Severus thought they'd fall out.

They could hear Azalea wailing, "_Mommy! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Mommy! I'm so sorry!_" Both Annie and Benjie could be heard saying something, but the actual words weren't audible. Mrs. Underhill could be heard sobbing, "_My baby! My baby! My poor baby!_", but Severus wasn't sure whether she was trying to comfort her daughter or her granddaughter.

Mrs. Wanetta continued to shriek at the top of her lungs, at one point actually coming out on the porch and screaming "_JesusLordJesus! HelpmeJesusIwillkillherJesus!_", before Benjie managed to calm her down enough to guide her back into the house.

Azalea continued sobbing, "_I'm sorry, Mommy, I'm sorry! I didn't want to do it! Forgive me, Mommy!_", and Mrs. Underhill continued crying, "_My baby, I'm so sorry baby, forgive me, baby, I didn't know!_"

This continued for some time, at one point Severus thought that he heard Annie crying also, and then he definitely heard Judy wailing. This seemed to refocus the group, and while they could still hear sobs from inside the house, the loudest of the wailing subsided.

Judy was fed, or her diaper changed, whatever inconvenience had prompted her outburst of displeasure. By that time the lights downstairs had been turned off, but lights had gone on upstairs. It looked like perhaps they were all going to bed, and that the Silversteins had been asked to sleep in the house.

Severus could see the outline of Azalea and her mother through the curtains of a window at the front of the house. They were hugging, but Azalea's sobs could still be heard.

"My baby, my precious baby," they could hear her mother say through the open window. "I am so sorry, baby…"

Azalea just sobbed as her mother stroked her head, and then their shadows moved away from the window, and all was quiet, save for the strains of a song being played on the radio in the bus.

"What the fuck?" Angel finally whispered vehemently. But both Yesmina and DeWard were crying; Sev just lay down, pulling his satchel over his head to try to drown out all sound.

.

* * *

.

_I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine_  
_On a cloud of sound I drift in the night_  
_Any place it goes is right_  
_Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here_

_Well, you don't know what we can find_  
_Why don't you come with me little girl_  
_On a magic carpet ride_

_You don't know what we can see_  
_Why don't you tell your dreams to me_  
_Fantasy will set you free_  
_Close your eyes girl_  
_Look inside girl_  
_Let the sound take you away_

_Last night I held Aladdin's lamp_  
_And so I wished that I could stay_  
_Before the thing could answer me_  
_Well, someone came and took the lamp away_  
_I looked around, a lousy candle's all I found_

_Well, you don't know what we can find_  
_Why don't you come with me little girl_  
_On a magic carpet ride_

_Well, you don't know what we can see_  
_Why don't you tell your dreams to me_  
_Fantasy will set you free_  
_Close your eyes girl_  
_Look inside girl_  
_Let the sound take you away_

**MAGIC CARPET RIDE**  
Steppenwolf  
1968

.

* * *

.

_How can people be so heartless_  
_How can people be so cruel_  
_Easy to be hard_  
_Easy to be cold_

_How can people have no feelings_  
_How can they ignore their friends_  
_Easy to be proud_  
_Easy to say no_

_And especially people who care about strangers_  
_Who care about evil and social injustice_  
_Do you only care about the bleeding crowd?_  
_How about a needing friend?_  
_I need a friend_

_How can people be so heartles_  
_You know I'm hung up on you_  
_Easy to be proud_  
_Easy to say no_

_And especially people who care about strangers_  
_Who say they care about evil and social injustice_  
_Do you only care about the bleeding crowd?_  
_How about a needing friend?_  
_Oh, I need a friend_

_How can people be so heartless_  
_How can people be so cruel_  
_Easy to be proud_  
_Easy to say no_  
_Easy to be cold_  
_Easy to say no_  
_C'mon _

_Easy to give in_  
_Easy to say no_  
_Easy to be cold_  
_Easy to say no_  
_Easy to say no  
_

**EASY TO BE HARD**  
Three Dog Night  
1969


End file.
